American Airlines Had to Cancel 1,000 Flights Since Friday

American Airlines is claiming staffing and ‘high winds’ caused them to cancel more than 1,000 flights in its busiest hub, Dallas/Ft. Worth. We are reasonably sure staffing over vaccine mandates is the real problem.

American canceled another 285 flights, or 10% of its schedule planned for Sunday, on top of 340 cancellations on Friday.

Pilot and flight attendant availability were listed as reasons for most of the cancellations on Saturday and Sunday, according to internal tallies, which were seen by CNBC.

Airlines have struggled with staffing shortfalls that have sparked hundreds of flight cancellations and other disruptions since travel demand rebounded sharply in late spring. Carriers had convinced thousands of staff members to accept voluntary buyouts or leaves of absence to cut their payroll expenses during the depths of the pandemic.

It’s not the vaccine mandate??? Funny how that didn’t come up.

Now they are trying to staff up again, hiring pilots, flight attendants, ramp and customer service workers, and others. Leaner staffing makes it harder for airlines to recover from disruptions like bad weather or technology problems.

Southwest earlier this month said that a meltdown earlier this month in which it canceled more than 2,000 flights cost it $75 million. It also said it would further trim its remaining 2021 schedule after earlier cuts to avoid more disruptions.

AP REPORTER TRIES TO BREAK INTO COCKPIT OVER PILOT’S SIGN-OFF

An unidentified pilot signed off when speaking to his passengers, including a reporter, by saying, “Let’s Go, Brandon,” a phrase commonly used to insult Joe Biden.

In Saturday tweets, Associated Press reporter Colleen Long said she was on the Southwest flight from Houston, Texas to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and claimed she was almost “removed” after trying to ask the pilot about using the phrase.

“That feeling when you’re trying to go on vacation and then the pilot says the very thing you’re working on over the loudspeaker and you have to try to get him to comment but then almost get removed from plane,” Long tweeted, along with a story by her digging into the “let’s go, Brandon” phrase, which has become common at sporting events and among Biden critics.

She sounded a little looney as she tried to break into the cockpit.

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