Concerns mount over possible flight disruptions as summer nears: "More flights than the system can safely handle"
As the busy summer travel season gets closer, there is concern over possible travel turmoil ahead. Airfare tracking site Hopper found more than 75% of flyers are worried about their upcoming trips being disrupted by delays and cancellations — for good reason.
So far this year, about 22% of flights have been delayed, and many airports are about to get even busier.
Shari Aizenman is so concerned about her three-week trip to Ireland in June, she's not even checking a bag.
"I really believe it's just kind of 50/50," she said. "Anyone traveling is taking a chance that they may not get to their destination."
The TSA says it expects potentially record-breaking numbers of passengers at U.S. airports this summer.
Airline industry analyst Henry Harteveldt said he is worried airlines have scheduled more flights than the FAA can handle.
"I think this is going to be a summer of light to moderate turbulence," he said. "I'm concerned that if there's just even the slightest ripple of bad weather … the FAA will be asking airlines to delay flights or possibly even cancel flights because there are more flights than the system can safely handle."
Last summer, more than 45,000 flights were canceled and nearly 1 in 4 was delayed as airlines struggled through bad weather and staffing issues.
Airlines have since addressed their staffing issues and insist this year will be different. The FAA also announced this week it has opened new "highways in the sky" by streamlining 169 East Coast routes, saving 6,000 minutes of travel time annually.
But the biggest driver of summer delays is weather. And other possible obstacles are on the horizon.
Air traffic control staffing concerns prompted airlines to reduce summer flights out of New York City. And picketing pilots seeking a new contract warn there could be turbulence ahead.
"The summer at American Airlines is as uncertain as it was last year, and last year was not good," said Dennis Tajer, an American Airlines pilot and a spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association.
Aizenman just hopes she makes her connection.
"They've already changed it twice," she said. "And it keeps getting closer and closer to my departure time to go to Dublin."
