American Airlines stated last week that it has cancelled over 1,400 flights over the weekend. This move comes as the airline struggles with a shortage of staff and unfavorable weather: “With additional weather throughout the system, our staffing begins to run tight as crew members end up out of their regular flight sequences,” the major carrier revealed in a statement.
The airline revealed that it canceled 376 flights on Friday, 551 flights on Saturday, and 480 flights on Sunday. In addition, the Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier delayed over 1,000 weekend flights, according to data collected by FlightAware. American Airlines stated that it will commit to overcoming the ongoing setback and avoiding such irregular operations in the future.
As the busy holiday period approaches, American Airlines is gearing up to take on peak air traffic demand. The company is in the process of hiring more staff on all fronts and is expecting 1,800 flight attendants to return to work after taking leave. There are also 600 new flight attendants scheduled to join the company in December.
Fierce competitor Southwest Airlines was also affected by the recent poor weather conditions, having to cancel almost 2,400 flights over the weekend. The Dallas-based airline has also adopted an aggressive hiring strategy with the intention to recruit 5,000 new employees by the end of the year.
