This year's most popular air travel day was a complete disaster. That won't change soon

Problems force cancellation of more than 3,000 flights in the US 0:26

(CNN Business) --

Starting in 2021, Americans have a new federal holiday: June 16.

This year the holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States fell on a Sunday but will be celebrated in many places on Monday, June 20.

Since this long summer weekend also coincides with Father's Day, it means there will be a lot of travel going on.

The Friday before June 19 was recorded as the most popular air travel day of 2022, according to statistics from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Airports haven't been this crowded since Thanksgiving 2021.

TSA agents said some 2,438,784 people passed through airport security checkpoints nationwide on Friday, the highest volume at checkpoints since Nov. 28, the Sunday after Day. Thanksgiving.

That was also about 100,000 more travelers than the Friday before Memorial Day weekend.

"Welcome to the Juneteenth Travel Holiday Weekend!" TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein wrote on Twitter.

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Although Juneteenth became an official holiday last year, this is the first year that the US stock market and banks will be closed in its honor.

• More than 3,000 flights canceled in the United States over the weekend

The surge in travel numbers couldn't have come at a worse time for US airlines.

A combination of bad weather, staffing shortages and infrastructure challenges have left major airlines struggling to keep up with the surge in travel.

Nearly 9,000 flights were delayed within the United States on Friday and just over 3,000 flights were canceled over the weekend, according to data group FlightAware.

In all, more than 3,200 flights were canceled between Friday and Sunday, according to FlightAware, including more than 850 flights on Saturday and more than 900 on Sunday.

Only Delta Air Lines canceled at least 248 flights this Sunday.

United Airlines canceled 90 flights and American Airlines canceled 96 flights.

"A variety of factors continue to affect our operations, including challenges with air traffic control, weather, and unscheduled absences on some task forces," Delta said in a statement to CNN.

"Cancelling a flight is always our last resort, and we sincerely apologize to our customers for inconveniencing their travel plans."

CNN has reached out to United and American for comment on the flight cancellations.

South America, in the sights of United Airlines 3:26

The difficulties of airlines to cancel flights

The surge in delays and cancellations comes just a day after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met with airline CEOs to discuss ways to improve performance and operations ahead of another expected surge in travel during the 4th of July holiday.

Approximately 2,700 flights were canceled over the Memorial Day weekend.

Major airlines are already preemptively canceling more flights just as the busy summer season heats up.

Southwest Airlines has cut nearly 20,000 flights between June and Labor Day and is struggling to hire the 10,000 new workers it says it needs to meet demand.

"I go through the Whataburger drive-thru and I pay and I get my bag, and stapled to the bag is a job application," Southwest CEO Robert Jordan joked to the Dallas Morning News last year about the difficulty of finding job applicants. job.

"That's what it has come to."

Delta said it will cancel 100 daily flights in the US and Latin America from July 1 to August 7.

In an open letter to customers, Delta pilots wrote that labor shortages have put them on track to fly more overtime this year than in all of 2018 and 2019 combined.

• Air travel on the rise for Memorial Day in the US

"The pilot shortage for the industry is real, and most airlines simply won't be able to realize their capacity plans because there simply aren't enough pilots, at least not for the next five years or more," United CEO said. Airlines CEO Scott Kirby during the airline's quarterly earnings call in April.

Unions representing pilots at Delta, American and Southwest say airlines got into the current situation by refusing to replace pilots who retired and went on leave during the height of the pandemic when air travel plummeted.

About 8,000 new commercial pilots have received certificates in the last year, according to pilot unions, and they say there should be no shortage.

Companies are using the current service-cutting narrative, they say, to justify a cut in training and safety requirements that will boost profit margins.

Some US senators are taking note.

“While some flight cancellations are unavoidable, the sheer number of delays and cancellations this past weekend casts doubt on airline decision-making,” Senators Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey wrote in a letter to Buttigieg earlier this month. this month.

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