We've had 5 straight days of airline delays and cancellations. So what is really going on? Is it Omicron? Is staffing shortages?
Aviation analyst Jay Ratliff says it's both. And what about the airlines backing Biden's vaccine mandate? "I would say it's a factor, but I would suggest it's a small one" Ratliff said, "Right now it's a staffing issue more than anything."
In an attempt to save money coming out of the pandemic, the airlines nudged too many of their older, well payed employees into retirement. Now they're paying the price for it. A perfect storm of staff shortages, vaccine mandates, not enough workers, and too many flights.
So what can we expect as we close out the year? "The problem with this last holiday week of the year, is that airline representatives have very few seats left" Ratliff told KTRH, "So when you have a plane that cancels that maybe has 283 people, where do you put them? We've not seen too much really bad weather, and we're hoping that we don't get any this week because that would only make the situation worse."
It's a problem that the airlines are going to have to make better in 2022. Especially with our U.S. Senators wondering where did all of the $54 billion dollars in bailout money go?