As air travel has come roaring back since the pandemic, flight disruptions have periodically made it difficult for people to reach their destinations.
Delays and cancellations from a huge winter storm in late December and another one in late January, a Federal Aviation Administration computer malfunction and computer problems at Southwest Airlines have cost travelers time, money and aggravation.
The tourism industry remains vigilant to head off potential problems.
Memorial Day weekend came and went with no major disruptions, even as AAA forecasted about 42.3 million Americans would travel 50 miles or more from home for the holiday, including about 3.4 million air travelers.
American Airlines, which represents about 40% of flight capacity at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, said it delivered its best-ever Memorial Day service while operating its largest mainline schedule (exclusive of alliances and regional subsidiaries) for the holiday, transporting more than 2.9 million passengers on more than 26,000 flights from May 25-29.
“We did not cancel a single mainline flight (Memorial Day) weekend,” American Airlines CEO David Seymour said in a statement. “In fact, that streak started before the weekend: a remarkable seven days of no cancels.”
But the good luck streak ended when smoke in the Northeast from the Canadian wildfires tested airline operations. Pilots had to decide whether low visibility posed too much of a hazard. Several airlines, including American Airlines and Southwest Airlines, allowed travelers to change flights at Northeast airports without penalty.
Summer travelers should be prepared in case things don’t go according to plan. Here are three of the biggest potential flight disruptors this summer and what you can do about them:
How the weather could disrupt flights this summer
Wild weather can hinder air travel, whether it’s an Arizona monsoon storm or a hurricane over the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico.
That can affect whether your flight is delayed or canceled and how smooth or bumpy your plane ride is.
The recent start of an El Niño cycle could affect this year’s hurricane season. The National Hurricane Center expects a near-normal hurricane season with 12 to 17 named storms, including five to nine hurricanes. El Niño conditions are typically unfavorable for the formation of hurricanes.
Extreme climate conditions also can disrupt air travel, as the Canadian wildfires demonstrated recently.
Turbulence is becoming more common on flights because of climate change, said travel expert Nicholas Wise, an assistant professor at Arizona State University’s School of Community Resources and Development.
“We’re seeing more extreme weather patterns, and that will cause some delays,” he said. “When there’s bad weather over the airfield, air traffic control has to get the airplane circling until it’s ready to land.”
➤ What you can do: If bad weather is expected, monitor the conditions in your flight path and take advantage of airline offers to reschedule without change fees. Download your airline’s app and enable notifications so you don’t miss updates and offers.
Is a pilot strike likely this summer?
Another source of potential disruption is airline pilot strikes. In May, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines pilots’ unions voted to authorize strikes.
While it appears unlikely that pilots will strike at either airline, a work stoppage could be a problem because there are fewer flights operating today compared to pre-pandemic, Wise said.
“If there is a full labor strike, that will certainly keep the planes on the ground much faster than the weather will,” Wise said.
The votes by the American and Southwest pilots’ unions to authorize a strike don’t necessarily mean a strike will happen. The votes are routine steps in their contract negotiations. A strike wouldn’t happen unless negotiations between the unions and the airlines’ management break down.
In fact, American’s pilot union reached an agreement just before Memorial Day, ending the possibility of a strike.
Southwest’s pilot union remains in negotiations.
➤ What you can do: For now, there is no reason to panic. If a strike appears likely, travelers can monitor the situation and consider switching to another airline.
What if my airline has a computer meltdown?
Even if you’re looking to unplug on your vacation, a computer will need to do its job for you to get where you’re going.
But technology hasn’t always been up to the task.
The FAA had a computer glitch on Jan. 11 that grounded flights nationwide for about an hour and a half, causing delays and cancellations.
Southwest Airlines experienced two nationwide computer outages in the last seven months, a symptom of operating on outdated computer infrastructure.
An outage in December 2022 stranded passengers amid winter storms, and another on April 18 involved a technical glitch in its internal data systems, causing the airline to ground flights for a few hours.
Southwest conducted an internal review of its technology following the December outage and began implementing a three-part action plan to address service disruptions from computer glitches, including fast-tracking operational investments.
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➤ What you can do: When issues emerge at the airport, technological and otherwise, Wise said the best thing people can do is to be patient. Read your airline’s policy on reimbursement for canceled flights and advocate for yourself.
“I’ve been to 102 countries, I’ve experienced every type of delay imaginable,” Southwest’s CEO Bob Jordan recently said. “Just stay calm and be pleasant to people in the airport. They have people complaining and arguing and they’re there to help and ease people’s stress, they can get overloaded. The more patient that passengers can be, the better it will make everything smoother in the near future as they try to fix everything.”
Reach the reporter at Michael.Salerno@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salerno_phx.
