People Left Stranded as American Airlines Cancels Over 1,500 Flights
American Airlines was pointing at the weather as the main reason for canceling more than 1,500 flights over the weekend.
On Sunday, American canceled about 667 mainline flights, nearly a quarter of its schedule, according to the flight-tracking site FlightAware, CNBC reported.
American canceled 340 flights on Friday and 543 flights Saturday. Saturday’s cancellations amounted to about 20 percent of its scheduled flights.
“This week saw two days of severe winds in DFW, with gusts of up to 50 mph on Thursday, creating crosswind limitations that sharply reduced arrival capacity by more than half,” American Airlines said in a letter posted by KXAS-TV.
The airline could use only two runways at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport — its main hub — instead of the normal five, the letter said.
As a result, staff members needed for weekend flights were all over the map instead of where they were supposed to be.
“With additional weather throughout the system, our staffing begins to run tight as crew members end up out of their regular flight sequences,” the airline said.
“To make sure we are taking care of our customers and providing scheduling certainty for our crews, we have adjusted our operation for the last few days this month by proactively canceling some flights.”
American COO David Seymour said Saturday that most travelers were re-booked the same day and that he expects his company’s operation to stabilize in November, CNBC reported.
American Airlines said it is boosting its employee ranks with about 1,800 flight attendants returning from leave and over 600 new flight attendants starting by the of the year, according to Reuters.
Someone should tell her American Airlines just canceled 1000 flights. I bet those 1000 pilots were also chanting let’s go Brandon.
— Just Some Guy (@JohnyTwoTimes13) October 31, 2021
Looking at cancellations like these Oct 29-30, it’s the American Airlines’ pilots who are going to sign off “LET’S GO BRANDON” next.
Yesterday | Today https://t.co/5FBu5pjGZc pic.twitter.com/aPkvl69JcD
— Fortified election watcher❌ (@Tazok3) October 30, 2021
My daughter got stranded at the Dallas airport trying to fly back to college in Tucson tonight. She was told that all flights out of Dallas are canceled until Tuesday on American Airlines! LETS GO BRANDON!!!! https://t.co/CMwQ1GzLVB
— darcie (@darcie63618356) October 30, 2021
Although a mass flight cancellation earlier in October by Southwest Airlines was linked to a protest against COVID vaccine mandates, American Airlines CEO Doug Parker has indicated that his company is not contemplating mass dismissals for those not vaccinated by the Dec. 8 deadline to comply with a Biden White House order.
Parker said a small minority of workers “almost certainly” will have a religious or medical exemption approved by then, “and those who aren’t we’ll continue to work with,” according to CNBC.
Southwest CEO Gary Kelly also has indicated a willingness to work with employees, saying the airline is encouraging those who do not get vaccinated to seek religious or medical exemptions.
“As long as they’re valid, we’ll be approving those,” he said. “I’m not going to fire anybody.”
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