The American airline slashed nearly 1,000 flights from its July schedule over the weekend to give it more breathing room as the travel surge and other factors strain its operation.
American spokeswoman Andrea Koos said in a statement, “We never want to disappoint, and feel these schedule adjustments will help ensure we can take good care of our customers and team members and minimize surprises at the airport,”.
Most of the proactive cancellations are for the first half of the month and amount to 1% of the flights that were planned, the airline said. Travelers were automatically rebooked on other flights, but that often means different departure times, an unplanned connection or inconvenient routing, and other hassles. Those with upcoming travel plans should check the status of their flight, so there are no surprises in July.
Passengers whose departure times were changed by more than four hours are eligible for a refund instead of a travel credit.
American disrupted passengers’ travel plans in droves during the busy Father’s Day weekend and into Monday.
On Sunday, the airline canceled 188 flights, or 6% of its scheduled flights, and more than half of all cancellations on flights to, from, or within the USA, according to flight tracker FlightAware. Southwest Airlines, which struggled with heavy delays and flight cancellations last week, had the second most cancellations among U.S. carriers – 38, or 1%, of its flights, scratched.
American delayed 755, or one in four, flights Sunday, according to FlightAware.
In total, the airline canceled 500 flights over the weekend, Koos said. She blamed the troubles on a variety of factors, including bad weather Sunday in Miami and Chicago, two of its hubs, and a labor shortage among some of its vendors.
The cancellations continued Monday – 136 as of midday – before bad weather at its mega hub in Dallas. Southwest, which also has a large operation in Dallas, canceled 200 Monday flights.
