A Delta Airlines commercial jet approaches to land at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California January 18, 2022.
Mike Blake | Reuters
Flight disruptions continued on Sunday but eased from a rough start to Memorial Day weekend, a test for airlines as they brace for a busy summer travel season after more than two year of the Covid pandemic.
Delta Airlines resulted in flight cancellations, disruption due to bad weather and “air traffic control operations” on Saturday. Hundreds of flights operated by Republic Airways, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways and American Airlines was also postponed on Saturday.
According to flight tracking website FlightAware, Delta canceled 254 of the airline’s flights, or 9% of its schedule on Saturday, and 530 were delayed, nearly a fifth of its schedule. On Sunday, that number fell to 143 cancellations, or 5%, and 116, or 4%, postponed.
Delta says 87% of customers have been rebooked on flights that depart within 11 hours of their original departure time.
Last week, the Atlanta-based carrier said it would cut its schedule 100 flights a day from July 1 to August 7, about 2%, leaving more room for troubleshooting.
Other service providers, including Alaska Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines also back on schedule to better handle disruptions like bad weather and staffing shortages.
Getting the right balance is key for service providers Bookings have increased recently despite the fact that airfares have already surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
