Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told the AP that the department may penalize airlines if flight disruptions continue. Those disruptions have been caused by staffing shortages and weather.
Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg speaking in the White House in May 2022. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Imagesin an interview Saturday his department may take enforcement actions against airlines that do not abide by consumer-protection standards.As air travel has rebounded from lows because of the coronavirus pandemic, widespread flight disruptions caused by airline staffing shortages and weather have upended travel schedules and left travelers stranded or scrambling.
Staffing shortages at the Federal Aviation Administration , which falls under Buttigieg's purview, have contributed to flight delays, according to AP.: As of Saturday afternoon, more than 2,900 U.S. flights were delayed and 760 were canceled altogether, according to real-time flight trackerThe disruptions come on the heels of 8,940 flight delays and 1,470 cancellations on Friday. Most of the delays were weather related.
Buttigieg's department will wait to see if there are major flight disruptions over the July Fourth holiday weekend and the rest of the summer before deciding whether to step up enforcement against airlines, he told AP. Buttigieg said that airline executives told him that their companies are attempting to hire and train new pilots and other workers to meet demand. They also said they are hiring more customer service representatives to help passengers rebook canceled flights or get refunds for them.The government could levy fines against the airlines, but those have typically been small. Air Canada had to pay a $2 million fine last year because it did not refund passengers quickly enough.