Weather causes flight delays at Philadelphia International Airport
PHILADELPHIA - Travelers jetting off for some summer fun this Fourth of July weekend endured a frustrating start to their trip, as severe weather caused delays for arrivals and departures at Philadelphia International Airport.
Over 200 flights were delayed Friday at Philadelphia's largest airport and more than two dozen more were canceled, according to FlightAware.
A spike in delays happened Friday afternoon when pockets of strong storms rumbled across the Delaware Valley. The FAA issued a ‘Traffic Management Program’ to wait out the storms, but the ripple caused residual delays into the night.
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As of Friday afternoon, more than 2,500 flights had been canceled and more than 20,000 flights were delayed, according to FlightAware. That’s on top of more than 2,600 flights canceled Thursday. American Airlines canceled 8% of its flights on Tuesday and Wednesday, and United Airlines scrubbed 4% of its schedule both days.
Airports with the most cancellations of late include Charlotte, North Carolina, a major hub for American Airlines, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty in the New York City area, and Reagan Washington National outside Washington, D.C.
AAA predicts 47.9 million people will travel between Friday and Monday, and about 3.55 million of those will fly. Delta Air Lines even took the unusual step this week of warning travelers that there could be problems over the holiday weekend.
Widespread delays and cancellations have been happening since before Memorial Day weekend. Airlines have been caught short-staffed as they try to hire thousands of workers, including pilots, to replace those who they encouraged to quit when the pandemic caused air travel to plummet.
Collectively, airlines have cut 15% of flights planned through the peak summer months, FOX Business reports.
They're also using larger planes on average to carry more passengers with the same number of pilots, but it hasn’t been enough so far this summer.