344 flights had been cancelled and at least 500 more were delayed.
The Fourth of July is around the corner and thousands of people will travel by air. But many of the passengers are now wondering if they will be able to make it on the plane for their holiday trips, as flight cancellations and delays continue to surge. According to Newsweek, more than hundreds of flights in the US have been cancelled on Thursday.
According to flight-tracking website FlightAware, around 1,200 US flights were cancelled on Wednesday, while nearly 7,000 were delayed as the East Coast continues to be the hardest hit as storms pummel through the region.
The news outlet further reported that by early Thursday, 344 flights within, into and out of the US had been cancelled and at least 500 more were delayed. “Of the cancelled flights, 78 had been scheduled to fly in or out of New Jersey’s Newark Liberty Airport, 74 were at Denver airport, and 62 at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport,” a Newsweek report said.
Thursday is expected to be the busiest travel day of the long weekend, with more than 52,500 total flights, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
United Airlines cancelled 263 flights on Thursday. “We’re beginning to see improvement across our operation. We expect to cancel far fewer seats today compared to yesterday and our baggage backlog at Newark has dropped more than 30 per cent since Tuesday, and off-duty flight attendants are calling in from across the country to staff open trips,” United said in a statement to Newsweek.
“It’s all hands on deck as our pilots get aircraft moving, contact centre teams work overtime to take care of our customers, and our airport customer service staff works tirelessly to deliver bags and board flights. As our operation improves in the days ahead, we will be on track to restore our operation for the holiday weekend.”
Many passengers took to social media to express their anger.
A user wrote, “My wife & 2 toddlers are sleeping in an airport terminal tonight because @united bumped the flight three times, put on standby for a midnight flight, then bumped again until tomorrow morning.”
The user added, “On hold w a rep since 3 pm today. Nobody at the counters. They don’t care.”
My wife & 2 toddlers are sleeping in an airport terminal tonight because @united bumped the flight three times, put on standby for a midnight flight, then bumped again until tomorrow morning
On hold w a rep since 3pm today. Nobody at counters. They don’t care. pic.twitter.com/FdwQmsGruW
— John “Rock & Roll” Tolkien (@jrockandrollt) June 28, 2023
Few passengers said that they would never fly with certain airlines again.