Thousands of passengers across the country had their flights canceled or delayed last week – becoming another item on the list of travel meltdowns to make headlines this year. While storm systems were to blame for the latest hiccups, Newark Liberty International Airport alerts also cited personnel.
“Two things can be true at the same time,” said Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.
Bad weather can have a snowball effect, causing logistical chaos. Flight crews are held on the runway, unable to make their next flight on time. Nelson argues that airline staffing models do not provide enough input into the system to handle such problems seamlessly.
“You can’t lose a person,” she said. “It’s spread too thin so there are just fewer employees responding to customer needs and requests and handling issues.”
When mass delays and cancellations occur, angry and confused travelers erupt I tweetasking why personnel matters Were influencing their flights. According to the Department of Transport’s latest air travel consumer report, there was a 35 percent increase in service complaints from May to June, and complaints are nearly 270 percent above pre-pandemic levels.
