Travelers Frustrated As Rising Flight Delays, Cancelations Dash Travel Plans
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Flight cancellations and delays have become a major issue for travelers across the country as summer travel ramps up and the July 4th holiday draws near.
Multiple flight statuses were red at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Monday, signaling their delay or cancellation.
Hailey Vinson was traveling from Ohio, catching a connection at BWI to travel on to Florida to board a cruise, but never got on the plane.
"We're missing our boat and we're stuck here," she told WJZ. "We've been delayed and on stand-by so many times, and we just can't get to Florida."
Bella Moses saw similar issues a few weeks ago as she tried to make her way home from London. "I flew London to Portugal, and Portugal to here and both were delayed," she said.
Last Friday the TSA recorded 2.4 million passengers screened, which is the highest number of airline travelers since the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
Many domestic flights do not have covid testing requirements, and travelers are blaming staffing shortages for the delayed and canceled flights.
Vinson said with the Fourth of July holiday coming up, "there definitely needs to be more staff. I get it, times are tough and we are in Covid-times and people don't want to work, but we need people to get people to their flights."
The Flight Aviation Administration is working to hire more air traffic controllers for many vacancies around the country. Anyone interested in the positions can visit the FAA website.