July 4 travelers get reprieve as cancellations ebb

The biggest crowds of July 4 holiday travelers since the COVID-19 pandemic jostled their way through U.S. airports this weekend, keeping stress on an already beleaguered transportation system.

The Transportation Security Administration said it screened 4.65 million passengers on Friday and Saturday, about 2.7 percent more than in the pre-COVID-19 pandemic era of 2019. Some 16,000 flights had been delayed within, into or out of the U.S. since Friday, Flightaware.com was reporting as of 2 p.m. Sunday.

Even so, the numbers could have been worse: Only about 1,500 flights were canceled outright for the three days, including 260 as of midday Sunday — largely in line with recent performance. There were no lasting complications from weather, a brief security evacuation of Terminal 4 at John F. Kennedy International Airport, or a temporary software glitch at American Airlines Group Inc. that allowed pilots to drop thousands of flight hours from their July schedules.

As many as 12.3 million people are expected to pass through airport security between June 30 and July 4, according to the Chaddick Air Travel Bulletin by DePaul University — about 8 percent more than on Memorial Day weekend in May, the traditional kickoff of the summer-travel season.

Passengers were asked to shell out hefty prices for tickets despite the increasing likelihood of hassles, as airlines try to wring out profits amid surging costs. Domestic fares are expected to average $437 roundtrip, the highest in five years, according to travel app Hopper Inc., while flights out of the country are averaging $1,200, up 31 percent from before the pandemic.

“Unfortunately, the summer of 2022 is going to be a very unpleasant one for far too many airline passengers,” said Henry Harteveldt, founder and travel industry analyst at Atmosphere Research Group.

U.S. carriers are eager to show that they can be reliable during times of heavy demand, but have struggled to cope with travelers returning to the skies after two years of COVID-19 foiling summer plans. Airlines huddled with Biden administration officials last week to game-plan for the days ahead.

From May 27 through June 30, the seven largest U.S. airlines scratched 2.7 percent of flights, or 13,783, according to FlightAware.com. Another 25.3 percent , or 126,620, were delayed, for an average 50 minutes. Using a conservative estimate of 100 passengers per flight, that means at least 14 million travelers have been affected over the past five weeks.

By comparison, in the same period in 2019, 1.7 percent of flights were canceled and 19.4percent delayed.