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Why the cancellations and delays in air travel this summer?

  • Scott LaMar
Passenger airplane taking of at sunrise

Passenger airplane taking of at sunrise

Airdate: August 8, 2022

The summer of 2022 has been marked by major disruptions in air travel.

More than 120,000 flights have been cancelled since Memorial Day and one in five flights have been delayed.

Tim Edwards, Executive Director at Harrisburg International Airport appeared on Monday’s Smart Talk and surmised staffing shortages as the biggest culprit. He added that pilots, flight attendants and even air traffic controllers are all in short supply. Edwards said many people left the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic and haven’t returned or been replaced, even though airlines have increased salaries in some cases.

Edwards expects the situation to improve once more people are hired to fill the positions.

He said bad weather is behind some of the cancellations and delays but that the weather hasn’t been any worse this year compared to previous years — it’s just that with so many cancellations — weather has been cited more often.

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