American Airlines Cancels 1,500 Flights Citing Severe Weather And Staff Shortage
CHICAGO (CBS) – American Airlines have cancelled 1,500 flights since Friday citing severe weather and staffing shortages according to a statement released from Chief Operating Officer David Seymour.
On Sunday alone, American canceled 50 flights out of O'Hare International Airport.
Severe winds up to 50 miles per hour in Dallas Fort Worth last week caused a reduction in their use of runways for operation from five down to two - cutting their arrival capacity by more than half.
"With additional weather throughout the system, our staffing begins to run tight as crew members end up out of their regular flight sequences," Seymour said in the statement.
He said the airline proactively cancelled some flights to minimize as much inconvenience as possible.
Most customers of the airline were able to be rebooked the same day. The cancellations counted for 10 percent of their total flights.
"We expect considerable improvement beginning tomorrow with some residual impact from the weekend," American said.
The airline said they are staffing up their entire operation and will see more staff return in the upcoming months - including 1,800 returning flight attendants on Nov. 1 and 600 new attendants by the end of December. They anticipate 4,000 new crew including pilots and maintenance technicians by the fourth quarter.
This is the second time that an airline faced cancellations. Earlier this month Southwest Airlines earlier this month cancelled more than 2,000 flights amid weather, staffing, and air traffic control issues.
