Airlines struggle to keep up with passenger demand as travel rebounds

Though air travel has returned to near 2019 pre-pandemic levels, airlines are struggling as they strive to meet service levels needed to fulfill customer demands.

Thousands of flights have been canceled or delayed, some of which could have been avoided.

Airlines received $54 billion in federal pandemic aid, much of it to keep paying employees. But, the Trump administration said airlines could offer early retirements, buyouts, and leaves of absence which the airlines pursued vigorously, reducing their workforces. Now, those airlines say they don’t have enough employees to fly and service the planes.

Travelers flying into Oakland were surprisingly understanding.

"Minor inconvenience today. Our flight was canceled, got a notice early this morning. But there were other good, available flights to choose from," said Margie Blevins, a passaenger from Austin, Texas.

Another traveler, Mollie Allen, appeared unflustered considering the difficulties she faced trying to return to the Bay Area from Utah.

"Yesterday I had a flight that was supposed to leave at 1 p.m., but it was canceled and they really couldn't guarantee when the next flight was," Allen said. "I was actually with somebody who lives in Albuquerque, and we drove all the way to Albuquerque to get on a flight."

But, when she got there, the cupboard was bare. All the flights were packed.

"All the flights were full. I tried to get on last night from Albuquerque but they were full flights. I had to wait till early this morning," Allen said of her 20-hour transit.

Carol Keig said her travel experience was smooth.

"No delays, no rioting, no people making problems. Everything is beautiful," she said.

According to airline tracker Flight Aware, Bay Area airports fared well compared to many other places. On the Fourth of July, 3,228 flights were delayed nationwide and 153 were canceled. At SFO, there were 90 flight delays and just one cancellation. In the South Bay at San Jose airport, there were 28 delays and no cancellations. Oakland had just 21 delays and no cancellations.

By 3 p.m. on Monday, nationwide cancellations were already more than those from the day prior. San Francisco airport had five cancellations as opposed to one on Sunday. San Jose had two cancellations as opposed to none and Oakland had two cancellations as opposed to none yesterday.