American Airlines revealed that it has had to cancel hundreds of flights due to staffing shortages, maintenance and weather-related issues as travel demand begins to ramp back up towards pre-pandemic levels. Airlines are scrambling to keep up with the spike in air travel demand as governments lift pandemic-related restrictions and allow more attractions from concerts to restaurants to theme parks to reopen, after spending much of the past year trying to reduce staff. Bad weather has also impacted flight crews’ ability to get to assigned flights, and other weather can mean that crews can fall outside of the hours they are federally allowed to work.

American Airlines revealed that they are racing to train all of the pilots that were furloughed during the pandemic, and is also in the process of hiring hundreds of customer service agents and other staff members. However, Allied Pilots Association spokesperson Dennis Tajer urges airlines to offer overtime in advance to encourage staff to fill in and to offer more flexibility, commenting that the airlines are “trying to put a Band-Aid on something that needs stitches.” Read more.