Blumenthal calls out airlines for cancellations
With hundreds of flights nationwide delayed daily, including 3 percent of all those in Connecticut, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is calling on major airlines to provide cash refunds to customers immediately.
Major airlines have blamed the many recent delays and cancellations on bad weather and busy air traffic, but Blumenthal contested those claims.
“They’re blaming it on weather and traffic — well,
weather is no worse than it has been in recent years and traffic control is no more of a problem,” said Blumenthal, D-Conn. “The problem is the airlines have failed to plan. If they’re short on attendants or pilots, that’s on them. They shouldn’t be planning flights when they know they’re going to be short on personnel, whether its pilots or flight attendants. It’s on them.”
Airlines have yet to refund the cost of tickets for canceled flights, opting instead to provide vouchers for future trips, he said.
As a member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Blumenthal said he will advocate for the committee to push airlines to reimburse customers for canceled flights.
“Remember, it’s not just the cost of the flight, the missed vacation. It’s nonrefundable hotel expenses and other costs of what they planned that are nonrefundable,” he said. “Passengers deserve the cash back in their pockets without question, not credits for some future, indeterminate, uncertain time. They deserve money back right now, cash refunds, and if they fail to do it, I believe the U.S. Department of Transportation will force them to do it.”
Flight cancellations are expected to increase further over the long Fourth of July weekend, Blumenthal said.
Nationwide, 2,800 flights were canceled over Memorial Day weekend, 3,700 flights were canceled on Father’s Day, 2,000 flights were canceled last Wednesday and 868 were canceled Sunday, June 26, he said.
In the first four months of the year, 7,300 complaints were filed against airlines, Blumenthal said.
In Connecticut, 3 percent of all flights were canceled recently, but airlines have yet to release specific data, according to Blumenthal.
“We are asking for exactly that kind of data from the airlines, how many flights were canceled and why,” he said.
Airlines were granted billions of dollars in federal aid to help stay afloat during
the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but they proceeded to cut their payrolls, Blumenthal said.
With hundreds of flights canceled over Father’s Day weekend, the rate of cancellations in the tristate area had calmed to about 140 flights by Monday, June 20.
Bradley International Airport is lucky that of its few flights have been canceled lately, Connecticut Airport Authority Executive Director Kevin Dillon said.
“For the most part, Bradley has been very fortunate. We have had very few cancellations and delays out of Bradley,” Dillon said. “When we look at the system nationwide, yes, there are challenges. The airlines are struggling to get staffing back.”
The biggest concern for airlines is the need to rehire staff after losing many of its flight crews and flight attendants throughout pandemic.
“They now have to get those pilots back. They have to be recertified before they can start a flight,” Dillon said. “It’s not a matter of the actual aircraft being available, it’s the employees to operate.”
Dillon said he is hopeful that in the next six months flights will return to normal, in both staffing and passenger rates.
The Fourth of July holiday
weekend is expected to a busy weekend at Bradley, but the lack of airline staff is still of concern. Nevertheless, Dillon said he expected passenger numbers to return to normal within the next year.
“Most of the July 4th period is a big drive, but we are certainly prepared here. Slowly airlines are bringing back staff,” Dillon said. “The portion of traffic that hasn’t returned as quickly as we’d like is business travel. Certainly, that’s related to people’s telecommute changes and the fact that a lot of people are still not back in the office. We are confident over the next fiscal year we will be back to prepandemic levels.”