Buttigieg: US may act against airlines on consumers’ behalf June 19, 2022 Buttigieg: US may act against airlines on behalf of consumers<br /> June 19, 2022 Creation time: 08:23 AM Last update: 08:23 AM Views: 18 Washington, June 19 (BUS): The day after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met with airline leaders to question them about widespread flight disruptions, his private flight was canceled and he ended up driving from Washington to New York. “It happens to a lot of people, and that’s exactly why we’re so interested here in what can be done and how to make sure that airlines deliver,” Buttigieg told The Associated Press in an interview. Buttigieg said he’s pushing airlines to stress-test their summer schedules to make sure they can run all of their planned flights with the staff they have, and to add customer service workers. This could pressure airlines to make additional cuts to their summer schedules. Buttigieg said his department could take enforcement action against airlines that do not adhere to consumer protection standards. But he said he first wanted to know if there were major disruptions to flights over the Fourth of July weekend and the rest of the summer. Enforcement actions can result in fines, although they tend to be small. Air Canada agreed to pay a $2 million fine last year for slow refunds, AP reports. During Thursday’s virtual meeting, airline executives described steps they are taking to avoid a repeat of the Memorial Day weekend, when about 2,800 flights were canceled. “We’ll now see how those steps go up,” Buttigieg said. Travel is back. On Friday, more than 2.4 million people passed through security checkpoints at US airports, coming from about 12,500 breaking the epidemic-era high recorded the Sunday after Thanksgiving last year. The record would surely have been broken had airlines not canceled 1,400 flights, many of them due to thunderstorms hitting parts of the East Coast. The day before, airlines had laundered more than 1,700 flights, according to tracking service FlightAware. Weather is always a big deal when it comes to flying in the summer, but airlines have also acknowledged a staff shortage as travel has returned faster than expected from the pandemic lows. Airlines are scrambling to hire pilots and other workers to replace employees who encouraged them to quit after the pandemic. It takes months to hire and train a pilot to meet federal safety standards, but the Department of Transportation sees no reason why airlines can’t immediately add customer service representatives to help passengers rebook if their flight is canceled. The government has its own challenges for employees. Shortages at the Federal Aviation Administration, part of the Buttigieg division, have contributed to flight delays in Florida. The Federal Aviation Administration is pledging to increase the number of employees there. The Transportation Security Administration, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, has created a mobile force of 1,000 screening workers who can be sent to airports where queues for checkpoints grow. Source link Related READ MORE U.S. consumers shrug off high inflation, lean on savings to boost spending
June 19, 2022 Creation time: 08:23 AM Last update: 08:23 AM Views: 18 Washington, June 19 (BUS): The day after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg met with airline leaders to question them about widespread flight disruptions, his private flight was canceled and he ended up driving from Washington to New York. “It happens to a lot of people, and that’s exactly why we’re so interested here in what can be done and how to make sure that airlines deliver,” Buttigieg told The Associated Press in an interview. Buttigieg said he’s pushing airlines to stress-test their summer schedules to make sure they can run all of their planned flights with the staff they have, and to add customer service workers. This could pressure airlines to make additional cuts to their summer schedules. Buttigieg said his department could take enforcement action against airlines that do not adhere to consumer protection standards. But he said he first wanted to know if there were major disruptions to flights over the Fourth of July weekend and the rest of the summer. Enforcement actions can result in fines, although they tend to be small. Air Canada agreed to pay a $2 million fine last year for slow refunds, AP reports. During Thursday’s virtual meeting, airline executives described steps they are taking to avoid a repeat of the Memorial Day weekend, when about 2,800 flights were canceled. “We’ll now see how those steps go up,” Buttigieg said. Travel is back. On Friday, more than 2.4 million people passed through security checkpoints at US airports, coming from about 12,500 breaking the epidemic-era high recorded the Sunday after Thanksgiving last year. The record would surely have been broken had airlines not canceled 1,400 flights, many of them due to thunderstorms hitting parts of the East Coast. The day before, airlines had laundered more than 1,700 flights, according to tracking service FlightAware. Weather is always a big deal when it comes to flying in the summer, but airlines have also acknowledged a staff shortage as travel has returned faster than expected from the pandemic lows. Airlines are scrambling to hire pilots and other workers to replace employees who encouraged them to quit after the pandemic. It takes months to hire and train a pilot to meet federal safety standards, but the Department of Transportation sees no reason why airlines can’t immediately add customer service representatives to help passengers rebook if their flight is canceled. The government has its own challenges for employees. Shortages at the Federal Aviation Administration, part of the Buttigieg division, have contributed to flight delays in Florida. The Federal Aviation Administration is pledging to increase the number of employees there. The Transportation Security Administration, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, has created a mobile force of 1,000 screening workers who can be sent to airports where queues for checkpoints grow.
