America’s airline industry has suffered blow after blow since the covid pandemic and subsequent vaccines – and there are calls for the federal government to “fix it” when they caused most, if not all the problems from the very beginning.
Lockdowns and then vaccine mandates have nearly devastated the industry and now that most of America is now open again for business, air travel has once again resumed but airlines are finding it tough trying to hire experienced personnel.
Pilots working for various airlines have not taken kindly to being forced into having to take an experimental vaccine that causes blood clotting – something that is already a risk to pilots who sit for long periods, at such a high altitude. As a result, pilots are quitting, and thousands of flights are regularly canceled.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who has seen things get much worse since he was given the job, was upset that he had one of his own flights canceled because of the lack of staff and has threatened government action. Maybe Buttigieg did not like getting a taste of what the average American must put up with.
“That is happening to a lot of people, and that is exactly why we are paying close attention here to what can be done and how to make sure that the airlines are delivering,” Buttigieg said June 18.
Buttigieg noted that he had met with airline industry leaders a day earlier. What he is asking for is close to impossible, however.
“Now we’re going to see how those steps measure up,” Buttigieg said.
Over 2000 flights were canceled that same weekend, as summer months bring vacations and Americans who have been cooped up for the better part of two years, are now ready to get moving again.
Airlines do not make money on canceled flights, and they are in the business of making a profit, making the cancellation of flights the absolute last thing they want to do.
The Epoch Times also noted the issue:
Some 2,700 flights were canceled on Memorial Day weekend, according to data from FlightAware. FlightAware also said about 700 U.S. flights were scrapped as of early on June 19, after about 1,300 flights were canceled a day earlier.
Major airline companies have already signaled that they have cut numerous flights through Labor Day weekend over worker shortages.
Southwest Airlines has canceled over 20,000 flights this season, and Delta Air Lines has cut over 700 flights since late last month, saying it expects to cancel 100 flights per day between July 1 and Aug. 7 across North and South America.
A letter posted by Delta pilots, said they have been flying a “record amount of overtime” hours, even with the number of cancellations, and demanding that they fly more is not going to help.
“At the current rate, by this fall, our pilots will have flown more overtime in 2022 than in the entirety of 2018 and 2019 combined, our busiest years to date,” the pilots noted in the letter. “We empathize and share in your frustration over the delays, cancellations, and disrupted travel plans you’ve experienced. We agree; it is unacceptable.”
“The pilot shortage for the industry is real, and most airlines are simply not going to be able to realize their capacity plans because there simply aren’t enough pilots, at least not for the next five-plus years,” United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said several months ago on a call with personnel.
Buttigieg can do all the crying and moaning he wants, but it is the FAA who sets the number of hours a pilot can fly. If their daily, monthly or annual limits are exceeded they have no choice but to stay home. It is the responsibility of the airlines to schedule according to the number of employees available in either the service area or the cockpit. As noted in the article, the government created the problem to begin with, so don’t get mad at the airlines. Call your congressman.
President Biden is trying to destroy our great country. Why are those to impeach the President & also the Vice President taking any action to impeach both of them? Impeachment of them both is the only way we will save this country.