Travel trauma: Airline passengers' summer woes

Published 2022-07-03
After two years of the pandemic, airlines are struggling to keep up with pent-up demand, as staff shortages, canceled flights and bad weather make Summer 2022 a miserable time for air passengers. CBS News correspondent Kris Van Cleave talks with aviation experts and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about why the airline sector is not meeting public expectations.

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All Comments (21)
  • @AperiLife
    The lady who built in an extra day is doing it right
  • @NatPix
    It seems like airlines need to acknowledge their inability to meet demand and not offer more flights than they can actually handle.
  • 5:15 "I'm not interested in the blame game." How do you fix something if you don't investigate where it's broken?
  • @milkman3797
    The general public’s miseducation in how the airline industry works just makes things worse. The airlines rely strongly on airport hired ground crews, FAA hired traffic controllers, maintenance crews and more people outside of the airline’s control which chokes their ability to make change
  • @dashwood8983
    i like the idea of fining airlines for cancelled flights, but then i realize how that money will go to the government instead of the passengers who are actually impacted
  • @janderson888
    Thats not the issue folks, the issue is airlines KNOW they can't meet demand, so they SHOULDN'T over sell them on the first place. That way travels can have a reliable flight with those booked. But if airlines always oversell then of course here were with massive nightmare cancelling flights right and left
  • @jenniferb8145
    Staffing shortage? Yet it’s almost impossible to get hired by these companies even with experience.
  • @JannaGiles206
    Anyone traveling… please pack your patience, sense of humor and some snacks! Travel is truly brutal right now.

    Example: Just went to Scotland from Los Angeles and getting there and back was crazy.

    Just talking about our return flight to keep this short’ish…
    - got up at 6am for a flight out of Edinburgh, only to learn later that morning that the flight was delayed 2 hours, making us reschedule our connection in Dublin to JFK.
    - finally got on the plane and sat there while something had to get repaired before take off.
    - landed late at JFK and sat on the tarmac for over an hour waiting for a gate to open up
    - then had to go through passport control, and get our luggage as usual, to recheck it in the US, only to miss our connection.
    - stood in line for about an hour to get rebooked, but had to stay overnight and catch a flight the next day
    - sat waiting in a long lineup to takeoff again...

    Please remember to breathe out there. Some people are loosing there S4!+ and it doesn't help anything.
  • As an airline worker that doesnt get any breaks because we have lost 50 coworkers (1 due to suicide because of work) when a flight cancels we dont get a break. working in 100 + degree wesather 8 or more hours a day is taxing and has put 1 coworker in in ER. we dont get breaks
  • This also shows what decades of under-investment in rail/passenger rail infrastructure results in.
  • I think I know where some of the govt. subsidies went. How many airline executives bought 4th mansions?
  • @vincentnnyc
    EVERYONE…DON’T FLY OR DRIVE FOR YOUR SUMMER VACACTION THIS YEAR! STAY HOME AN CHILL!
  • every civilised country has some form of rail service, nearly all have a high speed rail system. it's cheaper, very safe, and not nearly as cramped. usa needs to join the first world and invest in this form of transportation. it is more convenient than driving or flying, and more environmentally conscious than driving alone in your car.
  • @lindalasch1
    $50 billion dollars. Customers pay the price in every direction. 45% increase. The CEO's of the airlines are not available because they are on their private jets.
  • @winter_s_44
    There is literally no difference between cancelling a flight that you knew ahead of time you wouldn’t be able to staff and the routine practice of overbooking flights. Why is the former worthy of potential fines and the latter was always just thought of as standard airline practice? It makes no sense. At least with scheduling flights you likely have some idea/hope that you will be able to have the staff. The practice of overbooking flights was them knowing they were selling more seats than they had. The things we accept in this country as consumers is ridiculous when WE are the ones with the power.
  • @TheRrxing
    High speed trans continental rail is a good alternative. Whoops forgot it costs to much to build here in the US unlike other countries.
  • I flew today on the west coast , my flight was on time , & I got to my destination just fine . ✈️
  • @ssshar2176
    Too many companies did this though. Not just airlines. Early retirement to offset layoffs and combine that with unfortunate covid deaths, we have a massive labor shortage that won’t be resolved in 3-6 months.
  • @Ulysses2012
    Europe is experiencing exactly the same problems. Understaffed airports and many flight cancellations. It's crazy.