Popular airline warns of ‘more flight cancellations’ this summer

A popular airline has warned passengers that more flight cancellations are likely this summer.

Already this year, strikes and inclement weather have caused flights to be grounded, but it seems more trouble could follow.

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United Airlines in America has said it is having to reduce its flight schedule due to a combination of issues that have impacted hundreds of thousands of passengers over the past month.

A series of thunderstorms initially caused airlines to ground their flights, but air traffic controller staff shortages made it much more difficult for them to rectify the situation, according to CEO Scott Kirby.

Tens of thousands of flights were grounded over a five-day period as airlines struggled with traffic and weather problems.

Kirby told his staff that he was frustrated with the way the situation was being handled and said that situations like this usually weren’t that big of a problem.

In an email to United employees dated July 1, printed by best lifeKirby said there would likely be more cancellations this year unless things change.

He wrote: “Airlines, including United, are simply not designed to have their largest hub severely reduced capacity for four days and still operate successfully.”

“We need to keep changing/reducing our schedule to have even more free gates and buffers – especially during thunderstorm season.”

Strikes closer to home could mean that flights to European holiday hotspots are canceled right at the start of the summer holidays.

EasyJet cabin crew in Portugal have turned down a new salary offer and are planning strikes later this month.

Portuguese cabin crew, who turned down the latest salary offer, will go on strike from July 21-25.

EasyJet told Sun Online Travel that its crew’s pay is already 124 percent of the national industry average, and said most SNPVAC members are calling for a 44 percent increase in total pay.

They called it “impossible to do without jeopardizing the future of our Portuguese bases”.

A spokesman said: “We are extremely disappointed that SNPVAC is planning further strike action, despite our willingness to continue a constructive dialogue.”

“Our crew’s pay is competitive, well above Portugal’s national average salary, and our current offer is fair.”

“We will do our utmost to mitigate the impact for our customers, including changing flight schedules in advance to allow customers to rebook free of charge before travel or receive a refund if their flight is unfortunately cancelled.”

“We recommend customers traveling to and from Portugal on strike days to check the status of their flights in the flight tracker on our mobile app or website.”

Meanwhile, passengers make this big mistake when their plane is delayed or canceled.

And here’s how to get a refund if your flight is grounded.

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