Simple Flying - Lukas Souza
Today [29 April 2023], a report released by congressional investigators states that the increase in flight disruptions during the recovery from the pandemic was mainly due to factors under airline control.
According to a report publicly released today by the Government Accountability Office, most disruptions in late 2021 resulted from factors under airline control, like aircraft maintenance and short staffing. The report found that cancellations in the first half of 2021 were higher than in 2018 and 2019, even though there were 14% fewer scheduled flights. During the second half of the year, cancellation rates were similar to 2018 and 2019, but during that time, airline-caused delays increased for almost every carrier.
Airlines have faced challenges like short staffing, increasing costs, and more. All would say they have done their best to control the impacts on operations, but it is difficult to gauge whether that is true. Regardless, consumer advocate representatives are generally not content with airlines' actions. As a result, the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration have taken action to protect passengers, including adding the Airline Customer Service Dashboard last September. The dashboard outlines what every carrier does and does not cover in the event of controllable delays and cancellations.
