Worldwide Travel Chaos Will Continue All Summer | 2022

Have you seen pictures of queues longer than those for Disneyland and hundreds of people sprawled over the floors of airport lounges?

Welcome to summer travel 2022!

Earlier this year, we spoke about the travel labor shortage, and it’s really starting to show. That, and a record number of bookings of those finally taking a vacation after the COVID-19 pandemic are a bad combo for the travel industry, and are leading to flights being canceled left, right, and center.

In the U.S, Delta airlines have cut its flights by over 100 per day as the company can’t maintain the demand. This reduced schedule will last between July 1st and August 7th.

Other U.S airlines cutting flights include JetBlue which has reduced its schedule by 10% and Alaska Airlines by 2%. 

Over the Memorial Day weekend alone, over 5,000 flights were axed, leaving travelers stranded at airports all over

Over in the UK, the situation is much the same. The budget airline Easyjet canceled 80 flights on Sunday alone and is simply telling its customers to rebook or get a refund. Easier said than done.

Tens of thousands of Brits are stranded abroad after their half-term vacation turned sour. Travelers due to fly home on Saturday experienced cancellation of over 100 flights from airlines such as British Airways, Easyjet, and Wizz Air.

There have even been calls to send in the military to help ease the issue, but the transport secretary is reluctant to do this, saying “the airports and the airlines, the travel industry, need to make sure we sort it out.”

The issue is far-reaching, as, in the Netherlands, KLM airlines stopped selling tickets for four days last week.

One issue that we’re seeing arising across the globe is airlines overselling flight tickets, leading to too many passengers per flight, which then turns into delays and cancellations. 

Another factor is the poor pay for airline workers across the board, whether that’s as a check-in assistant or ground handler.

The advice to travelers is to choose a staycation over the summer, and book flights for the autumn and winter, but will you be doing this?