Buttigieg: US may take deed opposed to airlines on consumers' behalf

Buttigieg: US may lay clasp of deed opposed to airlines on consumers' behalf

The day following Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met accompanied by airline leaders to quiz them concerning widespread flying disruptions, his own flying was canceled accompanied by every one one other accompanied by he wound up driving from Washington to New York.

"That is happening to a a large amount of people, accompanied by every one one other accompanied by that is exactly why we are paying near watching here to what tin exist done accompanied by every one one other accompanied by how to build sure that the airlines are delivering," Buttigieg told The Associated Press inside an gathering Saturday.

Buttigieg said he is pushing the airlines to stress-test their summer schedules to build sure they tin operate all their planned flights accompanied by the employees they have, accompanied by every one one other accompanied by to add customer-service workers. That could place pressure on airlines to build additional cuts inside their summer schedules.

Buttigieg said his dividing could lay clasp of enforcement actions opposed to airlines that fail to exist up to consumer-protection standards. But first, he said, he wants to see whether there are greatest flying disruptions over the July Fourth holiday weekend accompanied by every one one other accompanied by the relax of the summer.

Enforcement actions tin results inside fines, although they tend to exist small. Air Canada agreed to pay a $2 million fine last year over slow refunds.

During Thursday's virtual meeting, airline executives described steps they are taking to retain away from a repeat of the Memorial Day weekend, when concerning 2,800 flights were canceled. "Now we're going to see how those steps measure up," Buttigieg said.

Travel is back. On Friday, additional than 2.4 million people passed into with every one other accompanied by not here of safety checkpoints at U.S. airports, coming within concerning 12,500 of breaking the pandemic-era high recorded on the Sunday following Thanksgiving last year.

The record surely would have been broken had airlines not canceled 1,400 flights, numerous of them since thunderstorms hit parts of the East Coast. A day earlier, airlines scrubbed additional than 1,700 flights, according to tracking labour FlightAware.

Weather is always a wild cardboard when it comes to flying inside summer, nevertheless airlines have excessively acknowledged staffing shortages while journey roared spine faster than expected from pandemic lows. Airlines are scrambling to hire pilots accompanied by every one one other accompanied by other workers to replace employees whom they encouraged to quit following the pandemic hit.

It takes months to hire accompanied by every one one other accompanied by train a airman to meet confederate safety standards, nevertheless the Transportation Department sees no indeed indeed spring the airlines cannot unswerving away add customer-service representatives to assist passengers rebook if their flying is canceled.

The management has its own staffing challenges.

Shortages at the Federal Aviation Administration, small part of Buttigieg's department, have contributed to flying delays inside Florida. The FAA promises to grow staffing there. The Transportation Security Administration, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, has created a roving ability of 1,000 screeners who tin exist dispatched to airports where checkpoint lines obtain excessively long.

Buttigieg: US may lay clasp of deed opposed to airlines on consumers' behalf