UAL - Fourth of July travel set to be the busiest on record

2023-07-03 06:17:51 ET

Smoky haze, hot weather and storms... Many flights have been delayed or cancelled over the past week in the U.S., posing some problems for travelers ahead of the Fourth of July.

More than 8,000 flights were delayed and over 500 canceled on Friday, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware . From Saturday to Monday, over 15,000 flights were delayed while 981 had been cancelled.

The American Automobile Association forecast that 4.17M Americans will fly to their destinations for the Independence Day weekend, up 11.2% from 2022 and 6.6% from 2019, setting a new record.

Meanwhile, the Transportation Security Administration expects to screen ~17.7M travelers from June 29 through July 5.

Private jet backlash

United Airlines ( NASDAQ: UAL ) accounted for most of the flight cancellations last week due to the impact of thunderstorms at its Newark airport in New Jersey.

While thousands of passengers were stranded on Friday after the cancellations, CEO Scott Kirby hopped on a private jet to get out of the New York area last week.

This prompted backlash, a swift apology from Kirby and a clarification from United ( UAL ) that it did not pay for the private jet.

"Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home," he said. "I sincerely apologize to our customers and team members who have been working around-the-clock for several days to take care of our customers."

Unions representing airline staff have accused United's ( UAL ) management of planning poorly and and operating too many flights.

Read about the weather conditions in the U.S. affecting flights.

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