Delays, cancellations worsening before 4th

United Airlines cancels 8 percent of its Friday flights

U.S. airlines continued to grapple with flight disruptions heading into the busy weekend ahead of Independence Day, keeping the industry on edge even as the recent volatility driven by bad weather and air-traffic control limits showed signs of subsiding.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. canceled 8% of its flights as of mid-afternoon Friday and delayed 21%, according to data from Flightaware.com. The Chicago-based carrier, which has been at the center of the recent turmoil due in part to heavy disruptions in the New York City area, accounted for the bulk of Friday's cancellations in the US. JetBlue Airways Corp. canceled 1% and 22% of its flights were delayed.

“We are ready for the busy holiday travel weekend,” United said in a statement Friday. “Our reliability continues to improve, with far fewer cancellations today compared to previous days.”

The heavy-travel weekend will test the changes airlines have made to improve reliability after extended disruptions last year tied to manpower shortages forced them to reduce flight schedules. More than 24 million passengers are expected to fly from U.S. airports over the holiday period from June 29 through July 5, according to booking app Hopper.com. On Friday alone, about 3.7 million passengers are expected to pack planes for the second straight day.

“We're still not running as optimally as it needs to run, and we have improvements that we can make, substantial improvements over where we were compared to last summer,” Delta Air Lines Inc. Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian told investors at a meeting earlier this week.

Crowded planes, a result of the extended surge in travel coming out of the depths of the pandemic, means passengers on canceled flights may have to wait days to be rebooked. Disruptions left airports including Newark Liberty International and Denver International packed with travelers this week.

About 6% of flights