The result has been that domestic US airline capacity, as measured by the number of available seats adjusted for miles flown, is still down 10% in the current quarter compared to the second quarter of 2019, ahead of the pandemic, according to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics firm.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said Tuesday that things are better than they were last summer. But he conceded in remarks to investors that his airline “still [is] not running as optimally as it needs to run. We have improvements we can make. Substantial improvements, over where we were last summer.”Meanwhile United CEO blamed the staffing shortage at the FAA, which he pointed said limited the number of flights into and out of major population centers like the three airports in and around New York City.
“It led to massive delays, cancellations, diversions, as well as crews and aircraft out of position,” Kirby said. “And that put everyone behind the eight ball when weather actually did hit on Sunday and was further compounded by FAA staffing shortages Sunday evening.” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, speaking at an unrelated event in South Carolina Wednesday, said that the problems are better than they were a year ago.
He said he had his own travel problems getting to South Carolina, with one canceled and one delayed flight that pushed his arrival back to 2:30 am.But one of the major unions at United said the problem was not just the FAA but also United management.