Thousands of travelers are making a last-ditch effort to get to their destinations for the July 4 holiday after storms swept the country, causing massive delays and cancellations.
Nearly 100 flights have been canceled as of early Monday morning and delays stood at 661 and steadily increasing, according to FlightAware.
After a day of storms, more severe weather is expected to hit at least 15 states from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to the Southeast on Monday.
Not only is air traffic snarled, so is road traffic with millions of people along the Interstate 95 corridor threatened by high winds, hail and possibly an isolated tornado.
On Saturday and Sunday there were 15,567 flights in and out of the United States and a total of 905 flights cancelled.
Thousands of travelers are making a last-ditch effort to get to their destinations for the July 4 holiday after storms swept the country, causing delays and cancellations
More severe weather is expected to hit at least 15 states from the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic to the Southeast on Monday after a day of storms wreaking havoc on travel
More than 50 million people are expected to take a trip of 50 miles or more this holiday weekend, with the AAA predicting the numbers will break records.
Stranded passengers have reported sleeping at the airport and standing in line for hours while trying to rebook their flights, with some saying they had to wait several days for their checked luggage.
Today’s ongoing travel chaos comes after irate passengers stranded at airports across the country lashed out at Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for not putting the airline industry in order.
But Buttigieg doesn’t seem concerned about how contentious airlines plan to improve, instead, he said on Sunday morning that he is “focused” on making sure U.S. airlines stay on schedule over the holiday, while warning of “bad weather” causing even more delays and cancellations.
Stranded passengers have reported having to sleep at the airport, standing in line for hours to rebook flights, and some saying they had to wait days for their checked luggage
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg warned of more ‘severe weather’ disruptions to holiday air travel after about 7,500 cancellations and tens of thousands of delays
There were more than 250 combined reports of wind, hail and possible tornado damage from the Mississippi River to the East Coast, according to the National Weather Service.
On Monday, travelers on the Interstate 95 corridor from southern New England to the mid-Atlantic and the Carolinas are at risk.
The area from southern New Jersey to South Carolina is at level 2 out of 5 on the thunderstorm risk scale, according to the Storm Prediction Center.
The East Coast could experience severe weather Tuesday through July 4. The SPC also placed parts of the Plains and Upper Midwest at level 2 out of 5 on the storm risk scale.
Travelers took to Twitter where they slammed multiple airlines during the debacle, stranding thousands of hours or even days in airports.
A passenger called United because they had canceled their flight, stranding them in Newark, New Jersey for five days.
‘Incredible. Our flight was supposed to leave two full hours before the storm today, but United canceled our flight again. We are stranded in Newark and have been for 5 days. No hotel rooms for us, promise to reimburse, spend $1000. #UnitedAirlines #familyfirst.’
A passenger criticized United for canceling their flight, leaving them stranded in Newark
More than 50 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more this holiday weekend, with the AAA predicting numbers to break records
United Airlines was hit hard by cancellations and now the company is offering irate passengers 30,000 air miles to try and convince them to remain loyal to the company after a week of cancellation chaos – forcing many to spend nights in airports and many never to countries at their destination. final destinations.
United also tried to save face after it emerged that the airline’s CEO, Scott Kirby, was flying privately from New York to Denver while paying customers slept at the airports.
“Getting a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers waiting to go home,” Kirby said in a statement from the airline.
Passengers were unimpressed, with one tweeting a screenshot of his $10 million salary — significantly more than Delta or American Airlines CEOs.
Scott Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines. His airline is offering miles as an apology to passengers stranded this week
Passengers have been given 30,000 free flight miles for trying to get them to fly
In a letter to those hardest hit by this week’s chaos, Chief Customer Officer Linda Jojo said, “I know this week has been tough. Really bad weather, air traffic control issues and some of our own operational challenges led to a rough experience for you and many of our customers.
“Providing these miles is the right thing to do. After all, you put your trust in us and expect more,” added Jojo.
United has not said how many people will receive the miles.
Last month, United canceled about 19 percent of its scheduled flights as thunderstorms and equipment failures at a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration facility in Washington caused significant delays for air travelers on the U.S. East Coast.
United is also working with the New York and New Jersey Port Authority to get more ports, Kirby said, adding that the company would need to further modify or shorten its schedule to give itself more spare ports and buffer, especially during storm season.