The busy holiday weekend is filling up
airports. A record number of pee
traveling for the holiday.
After days of chaos,
flights seem to be getting back on track.
We need to continue pushing
to make sure that there's the
smoothest possible experience
for air passengers everywhere.
But why is it becoming so hard to fly
and just get somewhere on time? Let's
dig into it.
After days of canceled flights,
stranded travelers,
airlines are getting back on tr.
A record-breaking holiday for tl
put a strain on the industry.
Still working to bounce back after COVID-19.
Well, today things were a bit easier.
But come Wednesday when everyons
trying to fly back after the holiday,
airports are bracing for crowdsd
Flyers are preparing for change.
They never really added more fls
and people have increased their travel.
But and so then if there's one little hiccup.
Everyone stuck.
It's like a domino effect.
Once my connecting flight get cancelled,
I knew I was going to beg at
every calendar that I get to.
Flight delays happen,
cancellations happen.
I think it's all about the
customer service and how
they handle the situation.
People flying on United Airlines have
run into the most issues this past week.
Bad weather and the FAA reducing the number
of flights leaving Newark Airport forced
widespread cancellations and de,
especially for United Airlines because
its largest hub is Newark Airpo.
Now, in a memo to employees,
United CEO wrote, airlines,
including United, simply aren't
designed to have their largest ,
have its capacity severely
limited for four straight days,
and still operates. Successfull.
Federal officials say they are hiring
more FAA workers to try and hel.
But airlines also need to look for ways
to make sure that flights keep running.
We had a hard few days with seve
weather at the beginning of the
week and that definitely put
enormous pressure on the system.
I think most passengers understd
that no one can control the wea.
But anything that's under the
control of the airlines and anyg
that we can do on the FAA side,
we need to continue pushing to e
sure that there's the smoothest possible
experience for air passengers everywhere.
All right? And to make matters worse,
during all the chaos,
United's CEO, Scott Kirby.
Jumped on a private plane to get
back from New York to Colorado.
Customers and crews who were stranded
because of delays and cancellats
were pretty frustrated by that .
Kirby apologized and admitted
the move was insensitive.
Now, this, of course,
is not the first time that we've
seen airline issues caused big
delays around holiday travel.
You'll remember back in August,
I mean December, excuse me,
Southwest system failures led to
thousands of canceled flights and delays.
Since then, the airline is
changing its winter weather pla,
upgrading technology that helps
schedule crews and change the ways its
departments communicate with one another.
So what can you do to try
and avoid flight issues?
Well,
here's what an expert says.
Be prepared for
anything to go bad
and be thrilled
when everything goes
perfectly. Take a nonstop
flight if it's
available and in your
budget, and try to
take the first available
flight of the day. Those are
generally less susceptible to delays.
Some other things going on with airlines.
Right now some planes are getting swapped
out as 5G towers go up in near airports.
The 5G towers don't interfere with much,
but it could cause problems with signals
used to track a plane's altitud.
Those don't affect the navigati,
but a 5G tower can, because it's
sending a signal not for the pl,
but that signal can actually
disrupt the readings you're goig
to get on the radio altimeter,
which would give the pilot
a false altitude reading.
Now, most major US airlines have fully
upgraded to new meters on planes that
are not affected by these 5G signals.
Delta Airlines, though, told CBS News
that due to supply chain proble.
190 of its planes still need that upgrade,
but that they should be done
by the end of this month.
In the meantime,
those planes won't be used when
bad weather may be a factor.
JetBlue also says seventeen of s
planes haven't been upgraded,
but they say delays will be min.
Yet another problem causing some headaches
for travelers is passport applications.
The State Department said it received
an influx of applications in March for
people looking to travel this summer.
In fact, they get about 1/2 a
million applications in one wee,
and those can stack up pretty quickly.
The State Department said they e
still short staffed from cuts dg
the pandemic and the process to issue
millions of passports each year is delayed.
On average,
anyone applying in February and March
is waiting up to 11 weeks for a
passport instead of the typical 9 weeks.
Now, going on vacation,
it can be expensive,
and this year airfare prices men
you may be paying more to get
to your favorite place.
But if you're willing to be flexible,
you could save hundreds if not
thousands of dollars on a trip.
Chelsea Hampshire was starting o
think the summer travel surge to
Europe meant she and her family of six
would be priced out of their anl
trip to London to see relativeso
I was searching. We just weren't
going to be able to go this yea.
Flights were so expensive and so sparse
and so as soon as this popped u,
it was like, oh, I guess we can
make this happen this year.
Have your passport ready.
But making it happen meant a 7
hour drive from South Carolina o
Washington's Dulles airport flis
on an airline you've probably
never heard of and arriving.
At an airport about 30
miles outside London. But it sad
the family around six grand, abt
450 per person. Versus like to
fly out of Charlotte was 2000 pr
person, so pretty big differenc.
North Atlantic Airways,
a Norwegian low cost carrier,
just announced service from
Washington in May, its first
flight to London Gatwick. Sold .
There's still time to go to Eur.
N CEO Bejorn Larson.
So we have two classes.
We have a premium cabin which wh
gives you great comfort and whee
everything is included by the w.
And we have an economy cabin which is
a la carte if you only need a s,
that's what you pay for.
Airfare to Europe is at a six year high,
averaging about 1200 a person.
Hotels are up 37% over last yea,
even more in places like Rome and Madrid.
While nearly 64% say high inflan
is affecting their 4th of July plans,
AAA still expects a record numbr
of travelers, so finding a deal
requires flexibility. There
are still deals to be found for
summer travel, but you have to
follow the deal, not the destination.
Haley Berg is the lead economist
at airfare Tracker Hopper.
You might have your heart set
on a beach vacation in Europe.
But you can go to the Caribbean
for about 1/4 of what you'll pay
to fly to Ibiza or Majorca this summer.
But Hopper says staying closer
to home will get you the best
deals from major US airports.
Las Vegas, Miami and Denver
can all be found for less than
100 bucks Internationally,
Montego Bay for under 300.
While London may cost you over a grand,
Iceland and Dublin fairs can
be found for around $500.
Well, getting a good price on
flights is usually one of the
biggest ways to save on vacatio.
So you've probably heard the myth right
buy tickets on a Tuesday to save money.
But is it true? Let's verify
our sources are Scott's cheap flights,
a study by cheapair.com and Brett Snyder,
president of Cranky Concierge
Travel Assistance and a former
airline pricing analyst.
Some studies suggest Tuesday or Saturdays
are the cheapest days to buy tickets.
But all of our sources say they usually
rely on flawed or outdated data.
For example, some articles suggest that
weekends are the cheapest days to buy.
Snyder points out that's based on data
that tracks the average amount t
on a ticket each day of the wee.
Families tend to buy their ticks
on weekends and usually purchase
less expensive tickets.
Meanwhile,
business travelers tend to buy r
tickets during the week and man.
Are less price sensitive.
A lot of the business travel,
premium cabin or even last minue
or whatever it might be,
those tend to be higher fares.
The end result is a study that
has skewed data.
Similar articles suggest
Tuesday's offer the best deals,
but our sources say that's also not the case.
Scott's Cheap Flights explains on its
site that this idea is a holdover from
the 1990s when airlines used to upload
Special E fares on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.
These days,
Snyder says,
airlines use sophisticated algorithms to
consistently adjust fares based on demand,
regardless of what day of the week it is.
This hasn't existed for years.
I couldn't tell you the last
time when when those actually
were out there in the market.
So we can verify,
no,
there is not a certain day of the week
that's cheapest to buy a plane ticket.
All right, So maybe you're flying somewhere
and checking out a tour spot li.
Hey, why not the Statue of Liberty, right?
Or maybe you're staying home. Either way,
have a great 4th of July tomorr.