American Airlines makes minor cutbacks to fall schedule

In an effort to be proactive, American Airlines is making a minor revision of its fall flight schedule.

American said it will cut two percent of its September and October flights, according to CNN, likely using that time from the end of summer until the November holiday travel period begins to align its schedule with pilots, flight attendants and others.

The spring and summer have not been kind to airlines around the globe, not just in the U.S. A combination of pent-up consumer demand for air travel coupled with shortages among pilots, baggage handlers and other airline workers have created a whirlwind of problems resulting in delays and cancellations. Accordingly, for the last several months, airlines have been forced to adjust their flight schedules to meet their staffing shortcomings.

For this round of flight cutbacks, American used the phrase “proactive adjustments” to describe the cutbacks, saying the decision was made to “size our airline for the resources we have available and to build an additional buffer into the remainder of our summer schedule.”

Another reason for being proactive, or at least pre-emptive, is the increasing scrutiny from the federal government. Congress and the Department of Transportation are considering a bill that would refund airline passengers their airfare – in cash, not in a voucher – if a flight is canceled when the airline knew it wasn’t going to have the proper staffing for the flight.