Airlines and FAA Engage in Blame Game Amidst Flight Delays and Cancellations

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says it’s the weather.

And they’re not wrong.

The airlines say it’s because the FAA is short-staffed.

They’re not wrong, either.

But the bickering continues, and nobody is stepping up to accept responsibility for the massive delays and cancelations this holiday weekend.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says the severe weather in the Ohio River Valley, Tennessee River Valley and northeast is the root cause.

“They really shot up at the first part of the week, largely because of severe weather hitting some of our key hubs,” Buttigieg told CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “I think most passengers understand that no one can control the weather, but anything that’s under the control of the airlines and anything that we can do on the FAA side, we need to continue pushing to make sure that there’s the smoothest possible experience for air passengers everywhere.”

More than 5,000 delays and 600 cancelations were reported on Sunday alone, according to CBS and FlightAware. Earlier last week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby blamed the short-staffed FAA.

According to one report, only 77 percent of airports are up to staff with air traffic controllers.

Buttigieg said Sunday that less than 10 percent of delays are due to staffing issues.

As of Monday afternoon, FlightAware is reporting there are 1,500 delays within, into, or out of the United States.