https://bigleaguepolitics.com/...ted-and-even-unruly/

With the return of air travel to pre-pandemic levels—and, in some cases, exceeding pre-pandemic levels—many airlines have struggled to mitigate a whole host of issues, e.g. increased demand, persistent staffing shortages, bad weather, and mechanical issues.

Spirit Airlines and American Airlines are two that have stood out in particular as of late.

On Monday alone Spirit, a low-budget carrier, canceled 277 flights before 5:30pm, 36 percent of all flights scheduled that day. That was up significantly from the 165 canceled on Sunday. Hundreds of flights were also delayed.

And it’s getting worse. As of early Tuesday afternoon, Spirit has canceled a full 50 percent of their scheduled trips, according to FlightAware.com. Another 12 percent have been delayed.

Meanwhile, American Airlines has canceled 280 flights, or nine percent of scheduled fares, and delayed another 394 (13 percent) as of Tuesday afternoon.

The issues have taken a toll on customers as well. Many have been left stranded at airports to camp out overnight. Lines at Spirit counters are said to be a few hours long, with only one or two agents assisting undoubtedly exasperated customers.

Spirit counters at Orlando International Airport (MCO) “looked like a hurricane shelter,” passenger Rebecca Osborn told USA Today.

In an extreme case of customer frustration, Spirit passengers allegedly began rioting at San Juan Airport on Monday. Twitter user @JustJettingThru posted a crew message that reads as follows:

“Just got information from SJU ops. Civil unrest happening within the facilities and airport not suitable. Divert FLL (Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport) for unsuitable arprt.”

@JustJettingThru added that passengers were “breaking computers, attempting to break the jet bridge door, and assaulting gate agents.”

“25 crew members [were] huddled in a ramp break room waiting for SWAT to escort them away. Crews urged to change clothes to avoid detection. Tempers flaring in MCO and FLL as well.”


As for American Airlines, two passengers on a Sunday flight from New Orleans to Austin (TX) got into a fistfight over a stuck reclined seat. Video of the fight can be watched here.

It’s been a long hot summer for the airline industry. And there are few signs that it’ll cool down anytime soon.

A fistfight between two passengers? Let's see if we can figure it out.

I posted in the What’s Your Deal? section because my wife and two youngest are stuck in Detroit. My wife remarked there are a ton of police there.

They made the TV news in Detroit:


They are the three in the foreground. This marks the third time my wife and daughter have been on TV and second time for my son.

A self-created crisis.

What is the cause of the canceled and delayed flights?

Twice in the space of one week I was rescheduled on American. First time was maintenance related on one of the regional jets from ROW to DFW - bad O-ring on hydraulics. Second time was a big jet from DWF to CLT, flight canceled, no idea why.

A spokesperson said the cancellations were due to bad weather, staffing shortages and crews reaching their hour limits.

Goodness. I feel bad for everyone involved, including the airlines and employees.

Wish I was younger. They are passing pilots quickly through flight school.
I'd sure go through it.

Have you seen the video of the Frontier passenger who was duct taped to his seat after touching 2 flight attendants and then claiming his parents were worth $2 Million so they better leave him alone....

https://abc7ny.com/philadelphi...y-touching/10926843/

This doesn’t help either. From CNBC -

American Airlines warns about jet fuel shortages around the U.S., asks pilots to conserve

How about a fist fight, in the cabin at Austin
couple of videos at the link...

Always felt that one day someone would get in a fight over a jerk fully reclining a seat, with all the narrow seat rows.




Link

Two detained at Austin airport following brawl over reported seat-reclining dispute

AUSTIN, Texas (KEYE) — Sunday afternoon, two men were detained at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) following a brawl that allegedly broke out over a seat-reclining issue.

WARNING: The fight in the following video may be disturbing to some. Viewer discretion is advised.

At 4:21 p.m., Austin police were dispatched to the scene of an American Airlines flight, where two men were throwing punches on a plane parked at the gate.

Viewer video shared with KEYE shows two men actively exchanging blows while passengers and flight crew attempted to intervene.

Urgent calls to "clear the aisle!" and "return to your seats immediately!" can be heard echoing throughout the cabin, as one passenger adamantly repeats "stop, it's not worth it!"

According to witnesses, the plane was returning to Austin from New Orleans when the two men started verbally assaulting each other over a seat that was stuck in the reclined position.

When the plane finally landed in Austin and the seatbelt sign was turned off, both men jumped up and physically started fighting each other," said one anonymous passenger.
Police were called onto the plane to escort the individuals off the aircraft and confirmed both were detained. It's unclear if either were arrested.

KEYE News reached out to American Airlines for comment, who confirmed:

Law enforcement were requested to meet American Eagle flight 4698, operated by Republic Airways, after arriving to Austin (AUS) from New Orleans (MSY) due to an altercation between passengers.

quote:

Originally posted by Cookster:...asks pilots to conserve...

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain- due to fuel shortage concerns, we will be shutting the engines down and coast on the decent portion of our flight glide.

You may use your earbuds to listen to recorded audio tracks of running engines to help with anxiety.

If you do not have earbuds, the AirWaitress™ will be happy to sell you a set for the cost of one gallon of Jet-A.

Thank you for flying with us."

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
What is the cause of the canceled and delayed flights?

https://flightaware.com/live/cancelled/

You can see the cancelled and delayed percentages here.

Once you see 57% cancelled and lacking say a major blizzard shutting down the east coast, likely a sign that the airline is doing a major reset. Planes and crews are so far out of whack of where they need to be that you start from scratch.

Some is third part labor. At a lot of outstations (minor airports) ground staff are contracted. Think the check in, the gate agent or CSA, and the folks loading the bags, or rampers. Many of these people were laid off over the past year. The race to fill these positions has been tough. Throw in being assaulted by passengers either working at the gate with irate passengers, or having your teeth knocked out not the best of times. Also air travel is back to pre pandemic levels for domestic travel.

All airlines are dependent on a strong IT network. Much of the software is third party. Sabre Corporation, formerly of AMR of the Bob Crandall AA days is one large purveyor. Crew Scheduling, Network Planning, Flight Dispatch, and Network Recovery to name a few. Lose your IT systems and your done.

Another third party provider is for hotels and crew transport, another problem area.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/2...ravel-complaint.html

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

When the plane finally landed in Austin and the seatbelt sign was turned off, both men jumped up and physically started fighting each other," said one anonymous passenger.

Should've just turned the seatbelt sign back on.

Having been in Iceland when WOW! airlines suddenly went out of business--like flying out of the country on Iceland Air the exact same day the other airline operating out of the country went tits up--I can say I sympathize with everyone stuck in those airports.

Oh, and I had a group of 16 students I was trying to get back to the US at the time....

Sounds to me like Spirit is about to die too.

^^^^ should have had one of these...

https://comfyplane.com/product...per-prevent-recline/ (Knee Defender Device to stop seat from reclining)

which, who knows, may have started the fight to begin with.

You couldn't pay me enough to fly Spirit Airlines even when things were going smoothly.

I took spirit from Oakland CA to Detroit in a redeye. Only way to get there that wasn’t at least 3 other stops eating up many hours or significantly more money direct flight. As long as you know what your getting into. It was very uncomfortable and seats did not recline and everything was a la carte. For a short 1 hour hop like SF to Vegas not bad. 3-4 hours or more and it was brutal.