Alabama’s airports are experiencing their share of delays and cancellations, but not at the level of the nation’s largest air hubs.
More than 775 flights were canceled across the U.S. today, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.
Add to that more than 1,500 domestic flights, which were canceled Saturday and Sunday. That makes six straight days across America where more than 500 flights were nixed.
The number of Americans travelling is now nearing pre-pandemic totals more than two years after the coming of COVID-19, with the daily Transportation Security Administration check-in number topping more than 2.1 million daily.
But that’s happening at a time when a number of other issues are hurting air travel.
According to CNN, airlines have fewer employees, particularly pilots, than before the pandemic, due to buyouts and early retirement packages.
Coupled with bad weather, air traffic control center staffing or employees calling out sick, and the airport departure board can quickly change.
Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, a connection point for many flights in Alabama, is among the airports regularly impacted by cancellations.
Looking at FlightAware Monday afternoon, Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM) saw four delays and eight cancellations, with six cancellations alone coming from Delta.
On Sunday, BHM registered 27 delays and two cancellations.
But a look at the total operations shows you how widespread these issues are. Take last week, for example.
In Birmingham, there were 13 total delays on Monday, June 20, out of 249 total flights – or just 5% of all flights.
That includes 3% of departing flights and 6% of arriving flights that were delayed Monday in Birmingham, with no cancellations.
Jim Payne, COO of Birmingham-Shuttlesworth, said the airport has seen “a few cancellations,” but mostly related to issues outside of Birmingham – airline staffing, mechanical issues or weather.
“Delta told us they are dropping their LaGuardia flight (to New York) from two times a day down to one, while they’re short of pilots,” Payne said. “We’re certainly hoping to get that back up to three trips a day soon when they can staff up.”
Payne said airlines say they’re “relatively optimistic” that staffing issues will improve going forward.
At Huntsville International Airport (HSV), the story is similar.
Today, the airport has reported four delayed flights, with three originating from Huntsville. On Sunday, there were two cancellations from SkyWest.
That’s better than a week ago, when according to FlightAware, there were 16 delays Monday out of 120 total flights, or 13% of all arriving and departing flights. There were no cancellations.
Montgomery Regional Airport (MGM) saw two delays today, while Mobile Regional (MOB) saw none.
Mary Swanstrom, public relations manager with HSV, said the heavy cancellations are more likely to occur at airports with larger traffic volumes.
“We’ve been mildly affected,” she said.
“I wouldn’t say we have been affected on the scale of a hub, like Atlanta or Dallas. They’re going to have a lot of flights cancelled or delayed, just because of where they are. We’re a terminus. We’re people’s origination point, or destination, so we’re not really seeing that on this end.”
Getting to the airport at least 90 minutes before your scheduled flight is one way to avoid problems. Swanstrom said airline passengers should also be proactive about confirming flights to avoid problems from cancellations or delays.
One way is to download the airline’s mobile app, which provides up-to-the-minute flight information through push notifications.
Or just Google your flight number to get updates, she recommended.
“Pack your patience, because it’s going to take a lot,” she said. “Airports are full and flights are full.”
