Thousands left with 4th of July plans in tatters as flights cancelled or delayed
Thousands of Americans had their holiday plans ruined as cancelled flights left their plans in tatters and officials responsible blamed each other.
Around 89,500 flights were delayed this weekend while 1,322 were cancelled, according to plane tracking website Flight Aware.
Similar problems were already being felt last week, as Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg blamed severe weather.
Mr Buttigieg told CBS: "[Cancellations] really shot up at the beginning of the week, largely because of severe weathering hitting some of our key hubs."
"I think most passengers understand that no one can control the weather, but anything that’s under the control of the airlines and anything that we can do on the [Federal Aviation Adminsitration (FAA)] side, we need to continue pushing to make sure that there’s the smoothest possible experience for air passengers everywhere."
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Some passengers and airlines had previously blamed Mr Buttigieg for the problems and United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby blamed a shortage of federal air traffic controllers for massive disruptions the weekend before last at its Newark hub.
Around 89,500 flights were delayed this weekend (AP)"We estimate that over 150,000 customers on United alone were impacted this weekend because of FAA staffing issues and their ability to manage traffic," Kirby then said.
This weekend, Kirby added the FAA had "failed us" due to their "staffing issues and their ability to manage traffic," according to travel + Leisure magazine.
He said: "FAA reduced the arrival rates by 40 per cent and departure rates by 75 per cent.
"It led to massive delays, cancellations, diversions, as well as crews and aircraft out of position.
Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg blamed the weather (Jacquelyn Martin/AP/REX/Shutterstock)"That put everyone behind the eight ball when weather actually did hit on Sunday and was further compounded by FAA staffing shortages Sunday evening."
Kirby apologised last week for using a private plane to get out of the New York area while thousands were stranded waiting for United flights.
Unions representing the airline's pilots and flight attendants have joined in the criticism, accusing United management of poor planning, a lack of crew schedulers, and operating too many flights.
The FAA, meanwhile, has admitted it is understaffed in some key areas and is training 3,000 new air traffic controllers.
Around 25 million were expected to travel by plane for the holiday weekend with another 25 million also using another form of transport.
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