Hundreds of flights had already been canceled early Monday — a bleak sign of the potential travel chaos to come ahead of the busy Fourth of July weekend.
More than 700 flights were scrapped across the United States as of 9:30 a.m., according to tracking site FlightAware.
Close to 1 in 5 flights (16%) out of Newark Liberty International Airport and one in 10 flights out of LaGuardia Airport had been axed by that time.
A total of 30 flights — or 4% — had been canceled at JFK Airport.
Of the hundreds of flights canceled across the country, almost 200 were operated by Delta and 120 by United, the flight tracking data showed.
American Airlines had canceled 60 flights as of 9:30 a.m.
The latest cancellations come as an estimated 3.5 million people were expected to travel for the holiday weekend, the American Automobile Association’s latest predictions show.
It is the lowest number of travelers to take to the skies over Fourth of July since 2011, the AAA said.
“Recent issues with air travel and ongoing concerns of cancelations and delays may be driving this increase,” the agency said.
The US has been plagued by mass flight cancelations in recent months due, in part, to pilot and airline staff shortages, as well as a lack of air traffic controllers on the ground.
Airlines have said they have struggled to refill the shortages left by the wave of layoffs and resignations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trade group Airlines for America has also blamed a shortage of Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers for the travel chaos.
But the FAA has since fired back, referencing the $50 billion in taxpayer money that airlines received after the pandemic devastated air travel.
“People expect when they buy an airline ticket that they’ll get where they need to go safely, efficiently, reliably and affordably,” the FAA said in a statement.
“After receiving $54 billion in pandemic relief to help save the airlines from mass layoffs and bankruptcy, the American people deserve to have their expectations met.”
