American Airlines has canceled hundreds of flights due to staff shortages

(CNN Business) – American Airlines has canceled hundreds of flights through at least mid-July, as the airline struggles to maintain service amid soaring travel demand as the coronavirus pandemic continues to subside in the United States, according to an airline spokesperson.

“The first weeks of June have brought unprecedented weather to our largest hubs, severely impacting our operations and causing delays and cancellations of flights and disrupting crew schedules and our customers’ plans,” the airline’s spokeswoman Shannon Gilson told CNN.

“This, combined with the manpower shortage some of our suppliers are facing and the incredibly rapid increase in customer demand, has led us to develop greater flexibility and certainty in our operations by adjusting a fraction of our scheduled flights through mid-July.

However, the cancellation portion amounts to hundreds of flights through mid-July. On Saturday, American Airlines canceled 120 cancellations, and the airline expects to cancel 50 to 80 flights per day in the future, Gibson said.

Industries across the country have struggled to hire staff as the economy tries to return to the normal it was before the pandemic.

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Gibson said customers who have booked through July 15 or already received notifications if their flights are canceled will be notified so they can make travel adjustments in advance.

Gibson added that the cancellations would be spread across its system, to reduce the impact in one region, although there would be a greater impact in Dallas-Fort Worth, the hub for American Airlines.