RICH THOMASELLI | TravelPulse.Com
Troy Warren for CNT #Travel
It’s been a frightening Halloween weekend for American Airlines.
Since Friday, the carrier has been forced to cancel nearly 1,400 flights and delay more than 1,000 due to what it said was a combination of bad weather conditions at its main hub in Dallas-Fort Worth, as well as staffing shortages.
According to Reuters News Service, American canceled 376 flights on Friday, 551 on Saturday and so far today on Halloween, 480. It has delayed more than 1,000 flights over the three days according to the airline tracking site FlightAware.
It is the second time this month that a major airline had a weekend meltdown, as Southwest Airlines also canceled or delayed more than 1,000 flights three weeks ago. Staffing shortages and weather issues in Florida were part of the problem, similar to what American has gone through this weekend.
“With additional weather throughout the system, our staffing begins to run tight as crew members end up out of their regular flight sequences,” American said in a statement.
Like Southwest, American plans to increase the staff that it lost during the pandemic through buyouts, retirements and layoffs. American told Reuters it has nearly 1,800 flight attendants returning from leave and more than 600 newly hired flight attendants coming on board by the end of the year.
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