Move FM Global News

WASHINGTON D.C.: Flight cancellations nationwide were primarily caused by problems within the nation’s airlines, such as maintenance issues and staff scheduling.

Large numbers of cancellations were found both at budget and major air carriers.

However, airlines have repeatedly argued with US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg over who is to blame for the increasing number of flight cancellations during the past two years.

The airlines claim that the government caused the cancellations by not having enough air traffic controllers, while Buttigieg has blamed the carriers.

The Government Accountability Office report had been sought by Republican leaders of the House Transportation Committee. The GAO said it issued the report after examining flight cancellation data from January 2018 through April 2022 to learn why more flights had been cancelled in the post-Covid period.

The GAO said in the two years prior to Covid the number one cause for flight cancellations had been weather. However, in the post-Covid period, the main cause was problems caused by airlines.

During the post-Covid period the airlines struggled as they were understaffed.

However, as travel has rebounded they have improved staffing and cancellation rates for 2023 are lower than during the same period in 2019.

Further, the trade group Airlines for America said air cancellations in 2023 have been largely caused by severe weather and air traffic control outages including 1,300 flights that were canceled in one 24 hour period because of an outage in a Federal Aviation Administration safety-alerting system.

“Carriers have taken responsibility for challenges within their control and continue working diligently to improve operational reliability as demand for air travel rapidly returns,” said the spokeswoman, Hannah Walden, as quoted by the Associated Press. “This includes launching aggressive, successful hiring campaigns for positions across the industry and reducing schedules in response to the FAA’s staffing shortages.”

Additionally, due to a shortage of air controllers in the New York-area, a number of airlines agreed to reduce their summer schedules in New York this year.