Weather Rather Than Staffing Shortages Causing Weekend Air Travel Havoc

This time it really is more of a spate of bad weather up and down the East Coast—and less to do with staffing shortages—that is causing flight delays and cancellations this weekend.

From Thursday, August 4, through Saturday, August 6, there were more than 21,000 flight delays into and out of U.S. airports and more than 3,200 cancellations.

As of 1 p.m. ET Sunday, August 7, airlines tacked on another 2,855 delays and 731 cancellations according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials implemented delay programs over more than a 1,000-mile stretch between Boston Logan International Airport and Jackson-Hartfield International in Atlanta, according to USA Today.

That includes some of the biggest and most popular airports in the country—three in the New York City region alone, Philadelphia, Baltimore, two in Washington D.C., and American Airlines’ hub in Charlotte, North Carolina.

And we haven’t even mentioned one key component.

While thunder and lightning storms have reared their ugly heads in numerous destinations and caused airlines to juggle already tenuous schedules, the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season hasn’t even been a factor yet. Oh, the season technically began on June 1, but the usual landing spots along the eastern seaboard as well as Gulf of Mexico states such as Florida’s west coast, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama and Texas have yet to see even remnants from a topical depression, much less a hurricane.

That’ll be something to watch as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted an above-average amount of storms for this year.