Busy July 4th Weekend Leads to Flight Cancellations and Delays

By: Lindsay Li

Last weekend, hundreds of flights were delayed or canceled due to understaffing and a record amount of people being screened at airports.

People have been traveling more since COVID-19 precautions have eased, and it shows in the number of people flooding into airports. On July 1st, the Transportation Security Administration screened almost 2.5 million people at security checkpoints, about the same number as pre-pandemic volume.

However, airports have been struggling to catch up to these numbers. 28.8% of U.S. domestic and international flights were either canceled or delayed on the same day. Shortage of staff has been a key reason for such hindrances, leading airlines to cut flights.

Such instabilities in flights are expected to return to normal once airports are able to hire more staff and sort out issues in their systems.

Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/record-july-4th-travel-weekend-thousands-flights-delayed-cancelled-rcna36497