American Airlines suspends several flights over staffing, maintenance issues

Dhaka: American Airlines have canceled hundreds of flights for June 19-21 following severe staffing and maintenance issues.

According to reports, 123 flights were canceled for Saturday, 178 for Sunday, and 97 for Monday – due to a high number of sick calls along with maintenance and other staffing issues.

The airline said that most of the cancellations are on A320 and 737 aircraft, and it may continue to cancel at least 50 to 60 flights per day for the rest of June and 50 to 80 flights per day through July.

"We made targeted changes with the goal of impacting the fewest number of customers by adjusting flights in markets where we have multiple options for re-accommodation," American Airlines said in a statement.

The carrier said it will attempt to notify customers far in advance of their flights and provide an opportunity for customers to rebook on alternative flights through its app.

All airlines and the Transportation Security Administration of the USA have been struggling with staffing as air travel has quickly jumped from historic lows to approaching pre-pandemic levels.

When air travel came to a plunge in March last year following the first outbreak of coronavirus, thousands of employees were forced into early retirements and buyouts. But now the airlines are desperately trying to fill those positions again.

American is also dealing with a staffing shortage with their catering contractor and wheelchair operators.

To handle the staff shortage, earlier in June, Acting TSA Administrator Darby LaJoye asked office employees to volunteer at airports for up to 45 days. The volunteers would handle non-screening functions such as onboarding for new hires and management of security lines.

In its attempt to hire 6,000 new officers to handle the summer travel boost, the TSA was offering recruitment incentives, such as USD 1,000 to officers who accept employment within the agency.