Flight cancellations tips

U.S. Senate Commerce Committee chair Maria Cantwell on Wednesday said the panel intended to hold hearings after Southwest Airlines’ recent meltdown that led to nearly 16,000 flight cancellations in the week ending Dec. 29.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, January 17. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Indian online travel agency EaseMyTrip announced on Monday that it has suspended all flight bookings to Maldives in what its Co-Founder and CEO, Prashant Pitti, deemed was in “solidarity with the nation.”

The air traffic control glitch which caused thousands of flight cancellations and delays into and out of Britain on Monday has been fixed and there will be no repeat of the issue, said the head of the country’s air traffic control provider, NATS.

The British government was working with airlines on Tuesday to help ensure passengers stranded in airports across Europe can get home after an air traffic control glitch caused widespread disruption to flights that is expected to last for days.

Airlines canceled more than 2,000 U.S. flights, disrupting holiday travel for thousands, as a powerful winter storm hit the United States.

A group of 15 U.S. senators on Friday demanded Southwest Airlines Chief Executive Bob Jordan answer questions about the low-cost carrier’s holiday meltdown that led to nearly 16,000 flight cancellations.

Southwest’s debacle late last year was extreme, but mass cancellations are not unheard of in the industry. Actually, they seem to be somewhat common. 

Global airports expect smoother travel this summer as staffing improves, but surging passenger demand during peak periods in Europe and North America could still bring long lines, baggage piles and delayed flights, an industry group said.

A 24-hour strike at seven German airports on Friday was set to affect almost 300,000 passengers as unionized workers press their demand for high wages.

Southwest Airlines Co’s flights resumed operation Tuesday after a one-hour nationwide stoppage, which the U.S. airline said was caused by a firewall failure.

The Biden administration has submitted draft legislation to Congress that would mandate airlines pay cash compensation for delays of three hours or more when carriers are responsible.

United Airlines plans to make changes in flight operations to avoid weather-related disruptions ahead of the Fourth of July holiday travel, Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby said on Saturday.

On the same day, Wednesday, that United hub Newark Airport, JFK and LaGuardia saw more than 2,000 flight cancellations by a variety of carriers, CEO Scott Kirby chartered a private jet from Teterboro Airport in New Jersey to Denver, according to published reports.

Travel over the Thanksgiving holiday period was robust, and predictions are for similarly strong demand for air travel during the period between Christmas and New Year’s. For most airlines, that’s good news. For American, however, it’s a potential nightmare.

More than 2,000 flights were delayed in the United States on Tuesday and nearly half as many canceled as airports across the country continued to deal with weather-related issues ahead of the July 4 holiday weekend.

Travelers dealt with another weekend of flight woes as storms slammed the East Coast, canceling and delaying thousands of departures — and the issues were far from over on Monday.