CANCELED FLIGHTS MAR HOLIDAY WEEKEND

Despite an airline industry pledge of a renewed focus on reliability, travelers endured chaos over the holiday weekend, with nearly 5,000 flights canceled and more than 27,000 delayed since Thursday.

Among those caught in the latest round of disruptions: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who ended up driving to New York after his flight from Washington was canceled Friday. It came one day after he met with airline executives about delays during Memorial Day weekend and how carriers are planning for the rest of the summer travel season.

The problems over the Juneteenth and Father’s Day weekend came as the Transportation Security Administration reported more than 2.4 million people were screened at U.S. airports Friday, the most since Thanksgiving weekend. The growth in travel demand comes as airlines are struggling with staffing shortages and flight schedule reductions.

The first signs of trouble arrived Thursday, when nearly 1,700 flights within, into or out of the United States were canceled and more than 7,700 were delayed, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.

Airports in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic were initially the hardest hit. The Federal Aviation Administration issued ground stops and ground delays in response to weather and capacity constraints at airports.

Nearly half of JetBlue Airways’ flights were delayed during the holiday weekend. About 35 percent of Southwest Airlines flights were delayed, a number that stood at about one-third for American Airlines and 30 percent for Delta Air Lines.

“A variety of factors continue to impact our operations, including challenges with air traffic control, weather and unscheduled absences in some work groups,” Delta said in a statement. American and Southwest declined to comment on the latest delays. JetBlue did not respond to requests for comment.