Weather is likely to continue hindering travel plans this weekend as millions of Americans gear up for their July Fourth getaways.
Smoke from Canadian wildfires is once again blanketing much of the U.S., forcing the airline industry to navigate another hazardous weather condition this week after severe storms in the Northeast disrupted flights all week.
The smoke will hit the skies Friday at the same time as a near-record number of Americans are setting out on their holiday weekend. Friday is expected to be the busiest U.S. travel day since before the pandemic, the Transportation Security Administration said.
Roughly 2.82 million people are expected to pass through U.S. airports Friday. The TSA expects 17.7 million people will fly between Friday and Wednesday, July 5, surpassing prepandemic volumes.
Hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled when Canadian wildfire smoke first wafted across the U.S. in early June. Travelers could experience similar disruptions this weekend as multiple states declare “code red” air quality alerts—signaling air pollution from the smoke is unhealthy for all people. More than 120 million Americans from the Midwest to the East Coast were under air quality alerts on Thursday.
This weekend’s Fourth of July travel rush will test an airline industry that has struggled with its postpandemic performance. Labor shortages and technology outages have made it difficult for carriers to keep up with summer travel demand—causing chaotic delays, miles-long customer service lines, and headaches for millions of passengers.
The Transportation Department said this month that a majority of “critical” air traffic control facilities in the U.S. were understaffed by 15% or more. This shortage of employees, who are responsible for monitoring and guiding planes through the sky, has led airline CEOs to blame the FAA for flight delays and cancellations caused this week.
That includes
United Airlines
(ticker: UAL) CEO Scott Kirby, who said that the FAA’s air traffic controller shortages “put everyone behind the eight ball” as airlines worked to overcome delays and cancellations from last weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported.
United Airlines canceled 2,566 flights in the U.S. from Monday through Thursday evening and delayed 4,811 others, according to data from FlightAware.
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