Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has told airline chiefs that they must take immediate steps to avoid a repeat of the travel chaos that hit passengers over the Memorial Day weekend when thousands of flights were forcibly axed at the last minute and passengers were left in the lurch.
The Biden administration transport chief called the virtual meeting of airline and travel industry executives on Thursday to hold them accountable for recent travel disruptions and to get assurances that similar scenes weren’t going to become a regular feature of the summer.
“I let them know that this is a moment we are really counting on them to reliably deliver for the traveling public,” Buttigieg told NBC News following the meeting.
Sources told Reuters that Buttigieg ordered airlines to “scrutinize” whether they could deliver the flights they were busy selling tickets for.
The effect of the meeting could be that U.S. airlines are forced to proactively cancel some of their planned summer schedules so that the service they deliver is more reliable. The general thinking is that airlines are being too ambitious to meet a surge in demand for air travel.
The industry is suffering from chronic understaffing and any external events like bad weather or an air traffic control delay can quickly escalate into a full-blown crisis because airlines have left little wiggle room.
Airlines are doing their best to recruit new staff but White House officials fear U.S. travelers could soon experience the same kind of travel turmoil affecting Europe where demand has bounced back far quicker than the rate at which staff can be hired.
The British government has ordered local airlines to reduce the number of flights on sale for the rest of the summer to build additional resilience into the system and passenger numbers are being artificially capped at several European airports including Amsterdam Schiphol and London Gatwick.
The U.S. airline industry trade group Airlines 4 America, says the federal government must also do its part to avoid travel chaos by ensuring air traffic control delays are brought under control.
Problems at the Jacksonville ATC center have snowballed on several occasions this year and the FAA says it plans to bolster air traffic controller numbers in Florida to avoid a repeat.
Oh he’s back from maternity leave? Glad he solved the ocean freight issue oh wait… Worst Transpo secretary ever.
He sucks big timne. Totally unqualified like the rest of the rats.
How about we get rid of the uesless little twerp? He’s about as intelligent as Biden.
“Thousands of flights were forcibly axed?” Why the need to damage the planes?
oh – the “lightweight” mayor of south bend is instructing the leaders of one of the most complex industries about what they need to do – never mind the fact that reducing flights will increase already rapidly rising costs of airline tickets – maybe mr maternity leave better start with fixing a couple of potholes and let the grown ups run the airline industry
Airlines have proven themselves to be a price gouging, public deceiving, taking handout then denying taking crying babies.
It’s beyond time to get high speed rail done. So we are not held hostage by these 4 companies.
Considering the fact that America has gone completely stupid and will in fact a potato if it signifies “change” Mayor Pete could easily be the next President to pilot this sinking country to its demise…..THINK ABOUT IT!!!
The city of South Bend, Indiana must be so proud of their village idiot…..