American Airlines Cancelling Hundreds Of Flights Per Day - Lack Of Pilots

American Airlines cancels more than 300 flights due to lack of pilots

Ramon Tomey 

 American Airlines (AA) canceled more than 300 flights over the weekend due to a lack of pilots. The cancellations prompted travelers to take to social media to voice out their frustration. The issue stemmed from the large-scale retrenchment of pilots during the start of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Because of this, the carrier announced that an unanticipated surge in demand for post-pandemic travel could cause 3,000 flights to be axed by the end of July 2021.

A report by the Daily Mail said the carrier cut 123 flights on Saturday, June 19. The next day, it canceled another 180 flights and followed up with the cancellation of 98 flights scheduled on June 21. In total, 303 flights were cut on Saturday and Sunday – and the additional canceled Monday flights brought up the total to 401.

Many affected passengers posted about their harrowing experience on social media. Matt Jones shared a picture of a mile-long line for customer service desks at Miami International Airport. He and other passengers queued in front of the desks after their AA flight from Florida to New York encountered lengthy delays before finally being canceled.

Scott Kubie meanwhile tweeted that his partner’s flight was “canceled last minute for no given reason.” While they surmised pilot shortage as the possible reason, they noted that AA should not “sell tickets [it] can’t honor.” Kubie also noted how AA staff members were “unhelpful at the service desk.”

A passenger who was left stranded on June 20 tweeted how AA canceled his flight because “not enough people boarded.” They claimed that they were “stuck at the airport since 8 a.m.” and only got confirmed for a flight 10 hours later at 6 p.m. Another passenger lashed out at the airline for canceling his wife’s flight “without notice.” The second passenger added that AA did not reschedule another flight for his wife, who just had surgery, so she can fly home.

Demand for air travel collapsed during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as various countries put lockdowns in place. Because of this, airline companies – including AA – were forced to lay off employees to cut costs. It retrenched 1,200 of its 15,000 pilots, with most of the pilots skilled in flying the Boeing 737 jets that comprise the U.S. carrier’s domestic fleet being laid off. (Related: COVID-19 hits aviation industry: American Airlines grounds fleet, suspends flights.)

But now, Americans quickly resumed travel as COVID-19 vaccination became more widespread, case numbers dropped and quarantine restrictions were lifted. The sudden surge in post-pandemic travel caught airline companies by surprise – and many pilots previously laid off became much-coveted hires.

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