Even as air travel in the United States has reached pandemic-era highs, airlines struggled to keep up with the increased demands due to high numbers of summer vacationers.
Despite worries about coronavirus infections caused by the delta variety, the United States reached a new high for air travel last Sunday, i.e., August 1, with more than 2.23 million travelers passing through airport checkpoints, according to the Transportation Security Administration. This is approximately 11,000 more people screened than on July 18, and the greatest number since February 28, 2020, before the country felt the full impact of the pandemic.
However, this upswing in travel, coupled with some severe weather, has left quite a few passengers unhappy. Flight delays and flight cancellations continue to plague the airline industry that is still fighting to recover from the pandemic. Airlines currently employ thousands of fewer people than they did before the outbreak. They have been caught short-staffed at times despite receiving over $50 billion in federal funds to keep employees on the books.
Across the country, thousands of passengers, mostly American Airlines and Spirit Airlines passengers, had to face canceled and delayed flights. By the middle of the afternoon last Tuesday, American Airlines had canceled around 300 flights, accounting for roughly one-tenth of the day’s scheduled flights. On Monday, the airline canceled nearly 18% of its flights! American blamed the outage on a weekend storm that damaged Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, their main hub. According to FlightAware, an aviation data company, Spirit had canceled more than half of its scheduled flights for the day by midafternoon last Tuesday. On Monday, the airline canceled more than 40% of its flights and 19% on Sunday. Spirit blamed the outages on a series of weather and operational issues.
As of now, most of the travel seems to be leisure-based. The demand for long-haul international and corporate travel has not yet really taken off.
Airport parking lots continued to be sold out, with both onsite and offsite lots seeing a massive demand. This could probably be due to most passengers avoiding public transport and driving themselves to the airport. While some passengers preferred to drive down due to health concerns, others were more concerned about the high prices of cabs. Users who logged onto their rideshare apps after months of inactivity were in for a rude surprise. Prices were up by almost 40%, with demand easily outpacing the reduced numbers of Uber/Lyft drivers on the roads. With so few drivers available, hailing a ride is also taking considerably longer than usual. Many travelers opted to drive themselves to the airport, consequently increasing the demand for airport parking spots.
If you’re planning to catch a flight out anytime soon, make sure you book your airport parking spot well in advance. This is especially true if you need a spot at LAX parking, JFK parking, or BOS parking lots. Also, make sure you follow CDC and airlines directives on travel and social distancing.
Check out more blogs on the best parking spots in your city, the most affordable insurance for your car, and top-rated car washes near you.
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RenĂ©e Martin is a travel and car expert who focuses on smart car ownership and road travel in the U.S. For the past 6 years, she’s been helping make car ownership, driving, and trip planning easier for everyday travelers.
