Summer Travel Is Chaos Right Now. Here's Some Reasons Why
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 1 July 2022
⏱️ 13 minutes
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Summary
Pilots took to the picket lines this week to protest this shortage. They are also frustrated by stalled contract negotiations and strained pilot schedules.
NPR's Ari Shapiro spoke to Captain Casey Murray from Southwest Airlines Pilots Association about what has caused this shortage.
Airline companies are having to get creative in their efforts to recruit, hire and retain pilots. NPR's David Schaper reports about how one major airline opened its own flight school.
Additional reporting in this episode came from Amanda Andrews at George Public Broadcasting.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If you've traveled recently and dealt with cancellations and major delays, let's |
| 0:05.8 | commiserate together. |
| 0:07.1 | In the span of a month, I've had three flights canceled on three separate airlines to |
| 0:12.4 | London, Boston, and just this morning to Ottawa, Canada. |
| 0:17.2 | Summer travel is chaos right now. |
| 0:19.3 | For thousands of Americans this week, there are summer getaways, landing them in an airport |
| 0:23.7 | Armageddon. |
| 0:24.7 | I was in the airport for over five hours, maybe six. |
| 0:28.1 | We've been stuck on the tarmac for hours at a time. |
| 0:32.4 | We actually de-plained, got back on the plane and de-plained again. |
| 0:36.8 | US Transportation Department is threatening to penalize airlines if they don't improve |
| 0:40.7 | their performance by the fourth of the day. |
| 0:42.8 | I really feel that. |
| 0:43.8 | Well, despite all this, there are estimates that say about 12 million Americans will be flying |
| 0:48.9 | this fourth of July weekend. |
| 0:51.2 | Travelers, make sure to pack some patience. |
| 0:54.3 | First today, a little over 2,000 flights have already been canceled across the globe according |
| 0:59.1 | to flight aware. |
| 1:00.9 | Now airlines report that flight bookings are around and in some cases above summer of |
| 1:06.0 | 2019 levels before the pandemic. |
| 1:08.8 | But travel industry analyst Henry Hartavelt of Atmosphere Research Group says the number |
| 1:14.0 | of flights being offered remains below pre-COVID levels. |
... |
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