While many airlines will take you where you want to go, the travel experience can vary widely when it comes to factors such as boarding processes, amenities and baggage allowances.

WalletHub recently released a ranking of the best airlines in the U.S. The site compared the nine biggest domestic airlines, plus one regional carrier, across 13 metrics in three major categories:

1. Baggage and departures
2. In-flight comfort and cost
3. Safety

The airlines were scored on metrics including how many mishandled baggage reports they had, how often they canceled flights, the availability of complimentary refreshments and how often they had delays. Each airline then received a score out of a maximum 100 points.

After two years in the top spot, Delta Air Lines slipped to fourth place, behind new No. 1 Alaska Airlines, as well as SkyWest and Spirit.

Despite losing its crown, Delta was still found to be the most reliable airline because of its low rate of cancellations, delays, mishandled luggage and denied boardings. The legacy carrier also ranked as one of the most comfortable airlines in terms of in-flight experience.

Alaska Airlines is WalletHub’s No. 1 U.S. airline

Alaska Airlines received the most points in WalletHub’s analysis, with a score of 68.07 out of a possible 100 points.

Although Delta held the top spot in 2022 and 2023, Alaska previously ranked at No. 1 from 2017 to 2019 and again in 2021.

In WalletHub’s ranking, Alaska was also the third-most reliable and comfortable airline and the fourth-most affordable airline.

Alaska Airlines offers customers complimentary in-flight Starbucks, has hubs across the Northwest Coast, and is a member of the Oneworld alliance, a global airline alliance of 13 members, including American Airlines, Qatar Airlines and British Airways. This allows Alaska to offer its passengers special perks, such as rebooking a flight on another airline that’s part of the alliance when possible.

The airline was also ranked the best airline and best airline rewards program by NerdWallet earlier this year.

The top U.S. airlines ranked, according to WalletHub

1. Alaska Airlines (68.07 points)
2. SkyWest Airlines (65.96 points)
3. Spirit Airlines (65.69 points)
4. Delta Air Lines (61.56 points)
5. United Airlines (51.96 points)
6. JetBlue Airways(51.6 points)
7. Hawaiian Airlines (48.3 points)
8. American Airlines (46.52 points)
9. Frontier Airlines (43.57 points)
10. Southwest Airlines (36.03 points)

The second-best airline, according to WalletHub, is SkyWest Airlines, with a score of 65.96.

SkyWest is a regional airline that partners with major airlines such as Alaska Airlines, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines.

In 2023, it carried 38.6 million passengers to its 237 destinations throughout North America.

SkyWest ranked in the top three domestic airlines for on-time performance from February 2023 to January 2024, with 84% of its flights departing as scheduled, according to data from the Department of Transportation.

Ultra-low-cost Spirit Airlines ranked No. 3 in WalletHub’s report, with a score of 65.69.

Spirit also ranked as the best airline for budget flyers, beating out Frontier, a fellow low-cost airline. The Florida-based carrier’s flights cost about 5.23 cents per mile in 2024, while Frontier’s cost 6.03 cents per mile, according to WalletHub.

A major reason Spirit Airlines is able to keep its costs lower than other airlines is that it has an a la carte pricing model. This means your fare covers only your seat, and anything extra, such as bags and in-flight snacks, comes at a cost.

Spirit Airlines might not offer the most comfortable experience — its seats are known for their limited legroom and lack of in-flight entertainment — compared with some of the other airlines listed. However, if a traveler is looking to spend less money in the U.S., the Caribbean or Latin America, it might be a fit.

On the other end of the list, Southwest Airlines ranked last for the third year in a row with just 36.03 points. The Texas-based carrier fared poorly when scored on metrics including price, safety measures, mishandled baggage reports and denied boarding.

Despite ranking last, Southwest Airlines had the lowest percentage of canceled flights, WalletHub found, based on 2023 flight data from the Department of Transportation.

Want to make extra money outside of your day job? Sign up for CNBC’s new online course How to Earn Passive Income Online to learn about common passive income streams, tips to get started and real-life success stories.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.

Southwest Airlines is weighing changes to its cabin that could involve abandoning its single-class, open-seating system to drive up revenue, CEO Bob Jordan told CNBC on Thursday.

The changes would mark a massive shift for the carrier that has stood apart from rivals for decades with its simpler business model.

“We’re looking into new initiatives, things like the way we seat and board our aircraft,” Jordan said in an interview after the carrier’s disappointing first-quarter report.

Southwest’s all-Boeing 737 fleet has a single economy class cabin and no seating assignments, though it does offer earlier boarding to customers for a fee so they can snag their preferred seats. The airline has focused on keeping its product simple and user-friendly for years, aiming to keep its own costs and complexity to a minimum.

Meanwhile, rivals including Delta and United have touted high revenue growth for premium seating such as business class and strong upsell rates.

Jordan said no decisions have been made on what kind of changes Southwest will ultimately make, but he said studies have yielded “interesting” results.

“Customer preferences do change over time,” Jordan said.

— CNBC’s Phil LeBeau contributed to this report.

U.S airlines are expected to receive 40% fewer planes than they had planned for last year, leaving the industry in a scramble to find ways to book more flights for what is expected to be record air travel this summer.

“From a consumer stand point, with demand strong and supply relatively weak, that’s a recipe for higher airfares,” Richard Aboulafia, the managing director of Aerodynamic Advisory, told NBC News.

The supply shock for the airline industry is due to the delayed delivery of new Boeing planes. United Airlines alone was was contracted to receive 43 Boeing 737 Max 8 planes and 34 Max 9 models in 2024, but now expects to receive 37 and 19, respectively.

Apr 17

Boeing whistleblower testifies in Congress: ‘They are putting out defective airplanes'

Apr 10

Boeing whistleblower says the Dreamliner 787 could ‘break apart' because of safety flaws, report says

“We put the customers in tight spot [and] the most important thing we do is communicate with them,” Boeing CFO Brian West said at a Bank of America conference last month. “And they have been supportive of everything we’re trying to do to enhance safety and quality for the industry. We are in regular, very transparent communications and they know precisely where we stand and the progress that we’re making and we, at the same time, have to understand what their needs are as they think about their flight schedules and their passengers.”

The largest delay is on Boeing’s Max 10s, as the anticipated model has not been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration and has not been given a timetable for delivery.

United alone was contracted to receive 80 Max 10s this year and 71 in 2025.

Both Southwest and United Airlines have paused hiring due to the delays, and United has offered pilots unpaid leave.

And, Southwest and Alaska Airlines are not able to forecast how many flights they will be able to handle due to the delays.

It was an Alaska Airlines flight that initially caused the recent turmoil at Boeing. A blowout of part of the plane‘s fuselage has led to multiple investigations into Boeing and its manufacturing practices.

“It means higher prices, but also planes that would be more full than they would otherwise be,” said Scott Keyes, the founder of Going.com.

The union also says it has seen incidents in which tools were left in wheel wells and items were left in the sterile area around planes parked at airport gates.

A spokesman said Monday that union officials have raised their concerns with senior managers at the airline and were encouraged by the company’s response.

Fort Worth-based American did not immediately comment on the matter.

The safety committee of the Allied Pilots Association said in an email to members Saturday that the union “has been tracking a significant spike in safety- and maintenance-related problems in our operation.”

Feb 6, 2023

FAA Proposes More Than $1 Million Fine on United Airlines Over Preflight Safety Checks

The union said American has increased the time between routine inspections on planes. It also said American has ended overnight maintenance checks unless a plane is written up for special attention or due for scheduled maintenance and now does “abbreviated” test flights on planes returning to service after major maintenance checks or long-term storage.

The union asked its members to report any safety or maintenance problems.

“We all understand that aviation accidents are the result of a chain of events — often a series of errors — and catching just one of those errors could prevent a tragedy,” the union said in the email.

Dennis Tajer, a pilot and spokesman for the union, said the union wants to be involved earlier in the process of assessing safety risks. He said the union spoke recently with senior management, “and management’s initial response to our request was encouraging. We fully intend to do everything we can to assure that American maintains strong margins of safety.”

According to a preliminary report released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board, the pilots were uncertain about ground conditions as they broke through clouds and saw the runway at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

The captain said the runway looked dry, but the co-pilot thought it looked wet. Shortly after the plane touched the runway, the captain disabled the autobrakes, according to the report.

“He did not ‘slow too much initially’ because the runway appeared dry, he wanted to expedite their time on the runway, and because he preferred decelerating gradually for passenger comfort,” the NTSB said.

As the plane neared the end of the runway, the captain tried to steer on to a taxiway while pushing aggressively on the brake pedals, the NTSB said. That is when the plane went off the taxiway.

The plane was heavily damaged — the left main landing gear broke off — when it rolled into a grassy area at 25 mph (40 kph) and hit a concrete structure. None of the passengers or crew members were hurt, the NTSB said.

The preliminary report did not state a reason for the March 8 accident. The NTSB often takes a year or more to reach conclusions.

The accident was among a string of incidents involving United planes that led the chief executive to reassure passengers about the safety of his airline.

United Airlines is asking pilots to take unpaid time off next month, citing late-arriving aircraft from Boeing, according to a note sent to pilots.

It’s another example of how Boeing’s customers say the manufacturer’s production problems and safety crisis are impacting their growth plans. The offer comes after United and other airlines in recent years have clamored for more pilots when the Covid-19 pandemic travel slump ended and demand surged.

“Due to recent changes to our Boeing deliveries, the remaining 2024 forecast block hours for United have been significantly reduced,” the United chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association, the pilots’ union, said in a note to members Friday. “While the delivery issues surround our 787 and 737 fleets, the impact will affect other fleets as well.”

United confirmed the request for voluntary, unpaid time off. The airline previously said it would pause pilot hiring this spring because of aircraft arriving late from Boeing, CNBC reported last month.

The union said it expects United to offer more time off “for the summer bid periods and potentially into the fall.”

United was contracted to receive 43 Boeing 737 Max 8 planes and 34 Max 9 models this year, but now expects to receive 37 and 19, respectively, according to a company filing in February. It had expected Boeing would also hand over 80 Max 10s this year and 71 next year. That model hasn’t yet been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, and the airline removed them from the delivery schedule because it is “unable to accurately forecast the expected delivery period,” it said in the filing.

United CEO Scott Kirby has been among the most vocal about the production problems and delivery delays at Boeing, including most recently the crisis stemming from a door plug that blew out of a nearly new Boeing 737 Max 9 operated by an Alaska Airlines flight that was at about 16,000 feet.

Other airlines bosses have also grown frustrated with the delivery delays resulting from Boeing’s manufacturing issues.

Southwest Airlines last month said it was reevaluating its 2024 financial guidance, citing fewer Boeing deliveries, and has paused pilot and flight attendant hiring, while Alaska Airlines said its 2024 capacity estimates are “in flux due to uncertainty around the timing of aircraft deliveries as a result of increased Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Justice scrutiny on Boeing and its operations.”

Boeing declined to comment.

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun last week announced he would leave at the end of the year as part of a broad leadership shake-up, which included the departures of the board chairman and the head of Boeing’s commercial airplanes unit.

“I’m contacting you because we have identified you as a possible victim of a crime,” a victim specialist from the federal agency’s Seattle office wrote in the letters, which passengers received this week. “This case is currently under investigation by the FBI.”

The plane was flying 16,000 feet over Oregon on Jan. 5 when the panel blew out, leaving a gaping hole in the side. The rapid loss of cabin pressure caused oxygen masks to drop from the ceiling, and suction as air rushed from the hole exerted force on people inside the plane.

Pilots were able to land safely in Portland, Oregon, and none of the 171 passengers and six crew members were seriously injured. Investigators say it appears that four bolts used to help secure the panel were missing after the plane was worked on at a Boeing factory in Renton, Washington.

news Feb 21

Boeing replaces head of troubled 737 Max program

airlines Jan 22

FAA tells airlines to inspect door plugs on another Boeing model after Alaska Airlines blowout

Published reports and government officials have said the U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into whether the panel blowout violated terms of a 2021 settlement that let Boeing avoid prosecution for allegedly misleading regulators who certified the 737 Max.

The settlement followed two crashes of Boeing Max jets in 2018 and 2019 that killed a total of 346 people.

Mark Lindquist, a lawyer representing some of the passengers on the Alaska Airlines flight in a lawsuit against Boeing, shared the FBI letter with The Associated Press. The notice gave recipients an email address, a phone number, a case number and a personal identification number so they can share questions and concerns.

“A criminal investigation can be a lengthy undertaking, and, for several reasons, we cannot tell you about its progress at this time. A victim of a federal crime is entitled to receive certain services,” the letter stated.

The FBI letter did not name Boeing, which declined to comment Friday. Alaska Airlines said, “We are fully cooperating and do not believe we are a target of the investigation.”

The National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Justice Department are conducting separate investigations of Boeing.

The U.S. Department of Transportation said its review will focus on the 10 biggest U.S. airlines and cover their collection, handling and use of information about customers.

“Airline passengers should have confidence that their personal information is not being shared improperly with third parties or mishandled by employees,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said.

A spokeswoman for the trade group Airlines for America said, “U.S. airlines take customers’ personal information security very seriously, which is why they have robust policies, programs and cybersecurity infrastructure to protect consumers’ privacy.”

US & World

airlines Mar 18

United Airlines CEO tries to reassure customers that the airline is safe despite recent incidents

San Francisco Mar 15

United flight from San Francisco missing external panel after landing in Oregon

air travel Mar 15

Boeing tells airlines to check pilot seats after report that an accidental shift led plane to plunge

In announcing the review, the Transportation Department did not make allegations against any of the carriers or cite any events that might have prompted the move. A spokesman said it is being done “proactively” to help the department determine how to protect passengers’ information.

The department said it sent letters to each of the airlines — Delta, United, American, Southwest, Alaska, JetBlue, Spirit, Frontier, Hawaiian and Allegiant — about their procedures for collecting and using passenger information, including “monetization of passenger data, targeted advertising, and prevention of data breaches.”

The agency also asked airlines if they have received complaints about employees or contractors mishandling personal information.

Delta, United, American, Southwest and Alaska referred questioners to the Airlines for America statement. Allegiant, which is not part of the trade group, said protecting customer data is a priority, and it welcomes the government review.

CEO Scott Kirby said the airline was already planning an extra day of training for pilots starting in May and changes in training curriculum for newly hired mechanics.

In a memo to customers on Monday, Kirby tried to reassure travelers that safety is the airline’s top priority.

“Unfortunately, in the past few weeks, our airline has experienced a number of incidents that are reminders of the importance of safety,” he said. “While they are all unrelated, I want you to know that these incidents have our attention and have sharpened our focus.”

Kirby said the airline is reviewing each recent incident and will use what it learns to “inform” safety training and procedures. He did not give any details beyond measures that he said were already being planned, such as the extra day of training for pilots.

Some of the recent incidents — such as cracks in multi-layer windshields — don’t normally attract much attention but have gained news coverage and clicks on social media because of the sheer number of events affecting one airline in a short period of time.

To a degree, United may be a victim of heightened concern about air safety since January when a panel blew off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max at 16,000 feet above Oregon; investigators say bolts securing the panel were missing.

“I don’t see a major safety issue at United,” said John Cox, former airline pilot and now a safety consultant. “The media is enhancing the events with extra scrutiny. Anything right now that happens to a United airplane makes the news.”

Cox said the incidents “are unfortunate, and they are getting a lot of attention, but I don’t see that they are showing an erosion in the safety of the commercial aviation system.”

In the most recent incident at United, on Friday a chunk of the outer aluminum skin fell off the belly of a Boeing 737-800 that was built in 1998.

Also last week, a United flight from Dallas to San Francisco suffered a hydraulic leak, and another flight bound for San Francisco returned to Australia two hours after takeoff because of an undescribed “maintenance issue.”

Earlier this month, a United flight returned to Houston after an engine caught fire, and a tire fell off a United Boeing 777 during takeoff in San Francisco.

United planes have even had mishaps while on the ground. Last month, pilots on one plane reported that rudder pedals used to steer on the runway briefly failed after touchdown in Newark, New Jersey.

This month, a jet landing in Houston rolled off an airport taxiway in Houston and got stuck in grass. Workers had to haul out moveable stairs to help passengers exit the plane.

There were no injuries in any of the incidents, several of which are under investigation by federal officials.

___

Shelley Adler in Fairfax, Virginia, contributed to this report.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday that preliminary information indicated that American flight 345 “blew a tire” during takeoff from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport but said later “the crew reported a flat tire.” American said the pilots got a warning of low pressure in one of the tires.

The Boeing 777 landed safely and taxied to the gate under its own power, American said.

That model of plane has 14 tires to handle the pressure of takeoffs and landings: six on each of the two main landing gear assemblies and two more under the nose landing gear.

The FAA is also investigating an incident last week in which a United Airlines Boeing 777 lost a tire during takeoff in San Francisco and cut short a flight to Japan, landing safely at Los Angeles International Airport.

Both planes in the recent incidents are more than 20 years old.

The U.S. Transportation Department is also calling Thursday for airlines to provide annual training for employees who handle wheelchairs or lift passengers with disabilities.

Damage to wheelchairs and scooters during air travel is a growing problem. The Transportation Department said 11,527 of the devices were mishandled by airlines last year, up from 10,337 in 2022.

The administration plans to announce the proposed rule during a White House event that will include advocates for people with disabilities.

There will be a 60-day period for public comment on the proposed rule. It’s not clear, however, when or if the proposal will ever become final. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg declined to provide a timetable when he briefed reporters.

Under the proposal, it would be easier for the Transportation Department to fine airlines up to roughly $125,000 if they damage a wheelchair or delay its return to the passenger at the end of a flight.

The proposal would give passengers the right to use their preferred vendor to repair or replace a damaged wheelchair — airlines are already required to cover the cost.

Buttigieg called the proposal the biggest expansion of rights for passengers who use a wheelchair since 2008. He said airlines need stronger financial incentives to treat disabled passengers with dignity.

The large number of damaged wheelchairs “reflects a culture where this is just treated as part of doing business,” he said. “There is going to be this risk that if something happens to your chair, and that’s too bad.”

Airlines for America, a trade group for the largest U.S. carriers, said airlines are working with the government and disability groups to reduce barriers to flying, said its member airlines have increased employee training, set up passenger-accessibility advisory groups and supported development of accessibility improvements since signing a commitment in October 2022.

“U.S. airlines are committed to offering a high level of customer service and providing a positive and safe flight experience for passengers with disabilities,” said Hannah Walden, a spokeswoman for the group.

The airline group didn’t comment on the administration’s specific proposals.

The Muscular Dystrophy Association, one of several disability-rights groups pushing for better treatment of disabled passengers, praised the proposal. Paul Melmeyer, the group’s vice president of public policy, highlighted provisions on training for airline workers, higher standards for on-board wheelchairs that passengers use to get to the lavatory, and placing the passenger’s personal wheelchair as close as possible to the aircraft door when they exit.

Melmeyer also endorsed the prospect of big fines for mishandling wheelchairs.

“We work with the airlines. They are not trying to damage wheelchairs, but we do need them to be more motivated to damage or mishandle fewer wheelchairs used by our community,” he said. “If higher fines or more frequent use of fines by the Department of Transportation will accomplish that goal, then we’re going to be supportive of that.”

Buttigieg conceded that the proposal will fall short of the ultimate goal of disability advocates — letting disabled passengers stay in their own wheelchair during flights, which would require modifications to aircraft cabins.

“The reality is that is going to take years,” he said.

Airlines are raising their prices to check a bag — again. Just how much you it will cost you, however, depends on when you pay for the service.

United Airlines, American Airlines and JetBlue Airways are among the carriers that have raised the price to check bags this year. Each of them charge customers more if they check their bags at the airport or close to their departure compared with paying to check a bag online in advance.

Carriers are encouraging customers to pay to check their bags ahead of their flight, an approach the airlines argue will free up employees at check-in areas and get travelers to their gates faster.

Earlier this week, American Airlines raised its checked bag fees for the first time in more than five years and adopted the two-tiered strategy that United, JetBlue and several budget airlines already have.

American Airlines customers traveling in coach will pay $35 to check a first bag for domestic flights if the service is booked online in advance, or $40 if they purchase the option at the airport, the carrier said Tuesday. American Airlines previously charged $30 for either service.

There are exemptions. Customers who have certain airline or other rewards credit cards, are traveling in a top-tier class or have elite frequent flyer status generally can check at least one bag for free on domestic or short international flights.

Why does it cost less to check a bag in advance?

“It allows our team members to spend more time with customers who require additional assistance with their travel journey,” an American Airlines spokeswoman told CNBC.

American this week also said it is reducing fees for slightly overweight bags, which used to force some travelers to remove items from their bags last-minute at the airport to meet the threshold.

The different fee tiers is an approach ultra-low-cost airlines already had to luggage fees.

“It incentivizes people to get the transaction out of way. It’s easier for them, and honestly, it’s easier for us,” said Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle. “There are people who need legitimate assistance” at the airport.

The prices differ depending on demand and other factors. Most travelers who add on baggage pay the fee ahead of time, Biffle said.

United first started charging customers more for paying for checked bags at the airport in 2020. On Friday, the carrier said it was raising bag fees by $5 for most flights in North America to $35 if customers prepay online at least 24 hours before their flight, or $40 otherwise, starting with bookings made on Feb. 24. A second checked bag will cost $50, or $45 at least 24 hours in advance.

Why are airlines raising baggage fees?

Luggage fees are a big moneymaker for airlines. In the first nine months of 2023, U.S. airlines brought in more than $5.4 billion from baggage fees, up more than 25% from the same period of 2019, according to the Transportation Department’s latest data.

Airlines have argued that higher costs such as labor and fuel, their biggest expenses, mean they had to raise bag fees.

“While we don’t like increasing fees, it’s one step we are taking to get our company back to profitability and cover the increased costs of transporting bags,” JetBlue said in a statement about its latest increases. “By adjusting fees for added services that only certain customers use, we can keep base fares low and ensure customer favorites like seatback TVs and high-speed Wi-Fi remain free for everyone.”

Southwest Airlines is an outlier among the large U.S. airlines. It allows customers to check two bags for free. “That’s the way it’s going to stay,” Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson said.

“It does not cost us $35, $40 … to handle a bag,” Watterson said in an interview. Many customers on major airlines bring carry-on bags to avoid bag fees, but Watterson said that could slow down the operation, a big deal for Southwest, which he said tries to turn aircraft around for the next flight in 45 minutes, and even less for some of its smaller Boeing planes.

“It does smooth the operation for people to check it rather than bring it on,” he said. “Overall, we think the benefit is a combination of some efficiencies but also customers coming back to us. A repeat customer business cannot be overstated. And when you treat your customers well, give them a fair policy, they come back over and over again.”

Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO:

• Warren Buffett’s Berkshire keeps new stock pick secret — again. Here’s what it means
• Michael Burry of ‘The Big Short’ fame buys Amazon, Alphabet and a dozen other new stocks
• Move over, Nvidia. There’s a new hot AI play that has soared 960% in the past year
• Morgan Stanley’s Slimmon names 3 stocks to buy right now: ‘It’s going to be a good year for equities’
• This little-known bank is offering one of the highest CD rates

Airline pilots won pay raises worth billions of dollars in new labor deals last year. Flight attendants are now pushing for similar improvements.

Flight attendants from United Airlines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines and others picketed Tuesday at dozens of airports around the U.S., demanding higher wages and a better quality of life.

“We have been in a period of austerity for 20 years, and it’s time the industry paid up,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents cabin crews at United, Spirit, Frontier and others.

The demonstrations mark the first mass pickets jointly held by the labor unions, which represent more than 100,000 flight attendants at U.S. airlines between them. New labor deals would come not just on the heels of pilot contracts, but also pay raises won by autoworkers, Hollywood writers and at major companies like UPS.

Flight attendants at most of the largest airlines haven’t received pay increases since before the pandemic, which paused contract talks, while the cost of living rose sharply in recent years.

American and other carriers told CNBC they are optimistic that they will reach agreements with their flight attendants in the coming months.

Labor costs and fuel account for airlines’ two largest expenses.

Stagnant pay

Flight attendants make an average of about $67,000 a year, according to the Labor Department, though pay can range from around $38,000 at the bottom 10th percentile to about $97,000 at the top.

Inflation has been “the most difficult for our new hires,” said Julie Hedrick, national president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents about 27,000 flight attendants at American. “We want [American] to come to the table and recognize what we’ve done to return this airline to profitability.”

Flight attendants for the most part are paid when the aircraft door is closed. Unions are largely pushing for either ground pay or boarding pay to compensate flight attendants for their work before takeoff.

Delta Air Lines, whose flight attendants aren’t unionized, started paying flight attendants for boarding at half their hourly rate in 2022. (The Association of Flight Attendants started a new union drive there before the pandemic.)

Strike threat

During the pandemic, after most travel resumed, cabin crew members faced increased job stress from packed planes, reduced staffing, overloaded schedules and at times, unruly travelers, according to the unions.

“It doesn’t surprise me that they’re unhappy,” said Conor Cunningham, an airline equities analyst at Melius Research. “Remember what happened in the pandemic: They had to be the police of the sky. They got hit with inflation just like all of us and their wages didn’t increase with it.”

Despite the picketing Tuesday, the aviation industry is unlikely to see strikes or work stoppages like those seen in the auto and entertainment industries last year.

Flight attendants’ and other aviation workers’ contracts don’t have expiration dates, and would require federal release to go on strike. Still, several flight attendant unions have approved strike authorizations, and all four carriers are negotiating with their flight attendants’ unions through federal mediation.

Southwest Airlines flight attendants rejected a tentative agreement in a vote last year.

“We reached an industry-leading Tentative Agreement with TWU 556 in October 2023 and are scheduled to meet next week with the union and the National Mediation Board to continue working toward an agreement that benefits our Flight Attendants and Southwest,” the airline said in a statement.

Correction: Southwest Airlines flight attendants rejected a tentative agreement in a vote last year. An earlier version misstated the timing.

Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO:

• Three stocks that could replace Tesla in the ‘Magnificent 7’
• Morgan Stanley hikes Nvidia price target ahead of earnings: ‘AI demand continues to surge’
• Vanguard launches two new ETFs to hit this sweet spot of tax-free fixed income
• Berkshire Hathaway topped $600,000 a share last week, aiming at $1 trillion market value

The planes made contact when one winglet touched another plane’s tail section, according to Massport. No injuries were reported.

A spokesperson for JetBlue said in a statement that both planes were taken out of service for repairs.

“JetBlue flight 777 to Las Vegas and JetBlue flight 551 to Orlando will operate on other aircraft,” wrote the spokesperson. “Safety is JetBlue’s priority, and we will work to determine how and why this incident occurred.”

“Just a little after 6:30, there was a loud jolt,” said Ryan Bates, who was on flight 777. “We had been told we were going to go de-ice the plane prior to takeoff.”

Bates said his window shade was down, so he didn’t see the planes touch but heard some passengers scream after the incident.

“I thought maybe we had gone past the runway or something like that,” said Bates of North Andover, Massachusetts. “I opened my window shade and saw that we were really close to the other plane. We kept inching forward a little bit further.”

Bates said an announcement wasn’t made immediately, so passengers were left trying to figure out what was happening.

“And then they came over the loudspeaker and said that we made contact with another plane…we’re going to wait here and see what happens,” he explained.

He said when the planes touched, “you felt a heavy jolt and I could see the damage because I was in a window seat over the wing.”

“I could see the damage right away,” said Bates. “It was fairly dark, so until there was light out, probably 20 minutes later, I could see a piece of the other plane on the ground behind that plane.”

Bates said it was jarring that they hit the other plane that hard.

He said he was heading to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl and that this incident was just a minor speed bump for him.

“Hopefully, we’ll still get there [and it’ll] still be a great weekend and it’ll be a lot of fun,” said Bates.

Passengers told NBC10 Boston they’ve already been re-booked and should get to Las Vegas on another plane later Thursday.

This is the third plane collision at Logan airport in the last year. In March, A United Airlines plane leaving for Newark, New Jersey, made contact with another United plane that was set to fly to Denver. No injuries were reported.

Then in June, there was a low-speed collision between a United Airlines plane and a parked Delta Air Lines plane. No one was hurt in that incident.

The Mexico City International Airport acknowledged in a statement Friday that a man had opened an emergency exit and walked out on a wing of a plane that was parked and waiting for takeoff Thursday.

The airport said the man had been turned over to police.

But dozens of fellow passengers signed a written copy of a statement saying the airline made them wait for four hours without ventilation or water while the flight was delayed. According to photos of the statement posted online, fellow passengers said he acted “to protect everyone, with the support of everyone.”

The airport said in a statement that “yesterday a passenger on a flight to Guatemala opened an emergency door on a plane while it was stationary at a remote position, stood on a wing and then re-entered the cabin, without affecting the aircraft or anyone else.”

“In line with international security regulations, this person turned himself over to the authorities,” it said.

At least 77 passengers aboard the AeroMexico flight to Guatemala signed a statement handwritten on notebook paper, photos of which were posted on social media, supporting the man’s actions.

“The delay and lack of air created conditions that endangered the health of the passengers. He saved our lives,” according to the statement.

An incident report filed with airport authorities largely confirmed that version.

“Around 11:37 a.m., a Mexican airline reported the beginning of a disturbance due to passenger discontent on flight AM672,” according to the report. “The flight had been due to lift off at 8:45 a.m. Thursday, but because of a maintenance alert on the plane, the captain had to return to the gate for the required maintenance.”

“The passengers were unhappy and one of them opened the emergency door and stepped out on the wing,” the report said. “This event required the plane to be changed.”

Airport authorities did not identify the man, and they declined to comment on whether he remains in custody or faces charges.

Flight tracking sites confirmed that flight AM672 to Guatemala City was delayed for 4 hours and 56 minutes Thursday.

A video apparently recorded aboard the flight showed passengers fanning themselves and asking a flight attendant for water.

AeroMexico did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.

The FAA said door plugs on an older version of the 737, called the 737-900ER, are identical in design to those on the Max 9, and some airlines “have noted findings with bolts during the maintenance inspections.”

The FAA issued a safety alert late Sunday. As soon as possible, airlines should visually inspect four places where a bolt, nut and pin secure the door plug to the plane, the agency said.

The door plugs are panels that seal holes left for extra doors when the number of seats is not enough to trigger a requirement for more emergency-evacuation exits. From inside the plane, they look like a regular window.

The FAA said that 737-900ERs have logged 3.9 million flights without any known issues involving the door plugs. By contrast, the Max 9 that suffered the blowout had made only 145 flights.

One of the two door plugs on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 flew off the plane in midflight on Jan. 5. Passengers and investigators have described a violent decompression as air rushed out of the pressured cabin at 16,000 feet over Oregon.

The plane made an emergency landing with a hole in its side, and no serious injuries were reported. On a mostly full plane, no one was sitting in the two seats nearest the panel that blew out.

The FAA has grounded all Max 9s with door plugs instead of regular doors in the back of the cabin. Alaska and United Airlines are the only U.S. carriers to use the plane.

Besides grounding 171 Max 9 jets, the FAA is investigating quality-control measures at Boeing and its suppliers and has increased its oversight of the aircraft maker. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the Oregon incident.

“We fully support the FAA and our customers in this action,” a Boeing spokeswoman said in a statement Monday.

Boeing delivered about 500 737-900ERs between 2007 and 2019 – mostly to U.S. airlines — and about 380 have door plugs instead of exits.

Bob Sauer, a high school teacher, said he hadn’t found the panel, called a door plug, in his backyard sooner because he didn’t look. On Sunday, he said, a neighbor suggested he check his property, but he took his time, eventually searching his backyard that night with a flashlight.

“It still didn’t seem very likely to me,” Sauer, who lives in the Portland, Oregon, area said in an interview with NBC News on Monday evening.

He had followed the news of Friday’s accident, when the door plug blew out of a Boeing 737 Max 9 that was filled almost to capacity with passengers.

The accident during the Alaska Airlines flight exposed a large opening in the fuselage and prompted the pilots to turn back to Portland International Airport for a safe emergency landing, they said. No major injuries were reported.

During his nighttime search, Sauer, who teaches physics, spotted something amid the trees he’d planted 20 years ago.

Read the full story at NBCNews.com here.

National Transportation Safety Chair Jennifer Homendy made the announcement at a news conference Sunday, saying the teacher, only identified as Bob, discovered it in his backyard and sent two photos to the safety board.

“Thank you, Bob,” Homendy added.

Investigators will examine the plug, which is 26 by 48 inches (66 by 121 centimeters) and weighs 63 pounds (28.5 kilograms), for signs of how it broke free.

Homenday also revealed Alaska Airlines had restricted the aircraft from long flights over water so the plane “could return very quickly to an airport” after a warning light that could have indicated a pressurization problem lit up on three different flights.

Homendy cautioned that the pressurization light might be unrelated to Friday’s incident in which a plug covering an unused exit door blew off the Boeing 737 Max 9 as it cruised about three miles (4.8 kilometers) over Oregon.

The warning light came on during three previous flights: on Dec. 7, Jan. 3 and Jan. 4 — the day before the door plug broke off. Homendy said she didn’t have all the details regarding the Dec. 7 incident but specified the light came on during a flight on Jan. 3 and on Jan. 4 after the plane had landed.

Investigators will not have the benefit of hearing what was going on in the cockpit during the flight. The cockpit voice recorder — one of two so-called black boxes — recorded over the flight’s sounds after two hours, Homendy said.

The plane made it back to Portland, however, and none of the 171 passengers and six crew members was seriously injured.

Hours after the incident, the FAA ordered the grounding of 171 of the 218 Max 9s in operation, including all those used by Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, until they can be inspected. The airlines were still waiting Sunday for details about how to do the inspections.

Alaska Airlines, which has 65 Max 9s, and United, with 79, are the only U.S. airlines to fly that particular model of Boeing’s workhorse 737. United said it was waiting for Boeing to issue a “multi-operator message,” which is a service bulletin used when multiple airlines need to perform similar work on a particular type of plane.

Boeing was working on the bulletin but had not yet submitted it to the FAA for review and approval, according to a person familiar with the situation. Producing a detailed, technical bulletin frequently takes a couple days, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe a matter that the company and regulators have not publicly discussed.

Boeing declined to comment.

Recommended:

news Jan 6

FAA grounds more than 170 Boeing 737 Max 9s after section of Alaska Airlines plane blows out

Alaska Airlines Jan 7

‘His shirt was sucked out.' Alaska Airlines passengers recall rough ride after side panel breaks off midflight

Without some of their planes, cancellations began to mount at the two carriers. Alaska Airlines said it canceled 170 flights — more than one-fifth of its schedule — by mid-afternoon on the West Coast because of the groundings, while United had scrapped about 180 flights while salvaging others by finding different planes.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington, chair of the Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said she agreed with the decision to ground the Max 9s.

“Aviation production has to meet a gold standard, including quality control inspections and strong FAA oversight,” she said in a statement.

Before the discovery of the missing plug, the NTSB had pleaded with residents in an area west of Portland called Cedar Hills to be on the lookout for the object.

On Sunday, people scoured dense thickets wedged between busy roads and a light rail train station. Adam Pirkle said he rode 14 miles (22 kilometers) through the overgrowth on his bicycle.

“I’ve been looking at the flight track, I was looking at the winds,” he said. “I’ve been trying to focus on wooded areas.”

Before the school teacher found the missing door plug, searchers located two cell phones that appeared to have belonged to passengers on Friday’s terrifying flight. One was discovered in a yard, the other on the side of a road. Both were turned over to the NTSB, which vowed to return them to their owners.

Alaska Airlines flight 1282 took off from Portland at 5:07 p.m. Friday for a two-hour trip to Ontario, California. About six minutes later, the chunk of fuselage blew out as the plane was climbing at about 16,000 feet (4.8 kilometers).

One of the pilots declared an emergency and asked for clearance to descend to 10,000 feet (3 kilometers), where the air would be rich enough for passengers to breathe without oxygen masks.

Videos posted online by passengers showed a gaping hole where the paneled-over door had been. They applauded when the plane landed safely about 13 minutes after the blowout. Firefighters came down the aisle, asking passengers to remain in their seats as they treated the injured.

It was extremely lucky that the airplane had not yet reached cruising altitude, when passengers and flight attendants might be walking around the cabin, Homendy said.

The aircraft involved rolled off the assembly line and received its certification two months ago, according to online FAA records. It had been on 145 flights since entering commercial service Nov. 11, said FlightRadar24, another tracking service. The flight from Portland was the aircraft’s third of the day.

The Max is the newest version of Boeing’s venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on U.S. domestic flights. The plane went into service in May 2017.

Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people. All Max 8 and Max 9 planes were grounded worldwide for nearly two years until Boeing made changes to an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.

The Max has been plagued by other issues, including manufacturing flaws, concern about overheating that led FAA to tell pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system, and a possible loose bolt in the rudder system.

___

Koenig reported from Dallas. Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska. Associated Press reporters Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu, Hawaii, contributed.

The airline had returned 18 of its 65 737 Max 9 aircraft to service Saturday following inspections that came less than 24 hours after a portion of one plane’s fuselage blew out three miles above (4.8 kilometers) above Oregon on Friday night. The depressurized plane, carrying 171 passengers and six crew members, returned safely to Portland International Airport with no serious injuries.

The airline said in a statement that the decision was made after receiving a notice from the Federal Aviation Administration that additional work might be needed. Other versions of the 737 are not affected.

“These aircraft have now also been pulled from service until details about possible additional maintenance work are confirmed with the FAA. We are in touch with the FAA to determine what, if any, further work is required before these aircraft are returned to service,” the airline said.

The FAA had ordered the grounding of some 737 Max 9s on Saturday until they could be inspected, a process that takes about four hours. The world’s airlines are currently operating about 171 737 Max 9s globally.

The aircraft make up about 20% of the Alaska Airlines’ fleet. As of midday, Alaska had canceled about a fifth of its Sunday flights, according to FlightAware.com. United Airlines, which also grounded its Max 9s, had about a 10% cancellation rate on Sunday.

Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state chairs the chamber’s Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and said she agreed with the decision to ground Alaska Air’s Max 9 jetliners for comprehensive inspections.

“Safety is paramount. Aviation production has to meet a gold standard, including quality control inspections and strong FAA oversight,” she said in a statement.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating Friday’s accident and is still looking for the door from the paneled-over exit that blew out. They have a good idea of where it landed, near Oregon Route 217 and Barnes Road in the Cedar Hills area west of Portland, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference late Saturday.

“If you find that, please, please contact local law enforcement,” she said.

Early Sunday afternoon, some local residents were scouring a patch of land with dense thickets, sandwiched between busy roads and a light rail train station. The area is located across from a sprawling hospital complex.

Adam Pirkle said he had ridden 14 miles (22 kilometers), maneuvering his bicycle through the overgrowth, while searching. “I’ve been looking at the flight track, I was looking at the winds,” he said. “I’ve been trying to focus on wooded areas.”

Daniel Feldt navigated the same thickets on foot, equipped with binoculars after descending from the roof of a parking garage beside the light rail station. “I was up on the parking garage and scanning everything. Didn’t see any holes in the bushes that looked obvious where something had fallen through,” he said.

Gavin Redshaw even brought his drone for an aerial view but hadn’t found anything either by Sunday afternoon. “Lots of trash, but no door,” he said.

There has not been a major crash involving a U.S. passenger carrier within the country since 2009 when a Colgan Air flight crashed near Buffalo, New York, killing all 49 people on board and one person on the ground. In 2013, an Asiana Airlines flight arriving from South Korea crashed at San Francisco International Airport, killing three of the 307 people on board.

Flight 1282 took off from Portland at 5:07 p.m. Friday for a two-hour flight to Ontario, California. About six minutes later, the chunk of the fuselage blew out as the plane was at about 16,000 feet (4.8 kilometers). One of the pilots declared an emergency and asked for clearance to descend to 10,000 feet (3 kilometers), the altitude where the air would have enough oxygen to breathe safely.

Videos posted by passengers online showed a gaping hole where the paneled-over exit had been and passengers wearing masks. They applauded when the plane landed safely about 13 minutes after the blowout. Firefighters then came down the aisle, asking passengers to remain in their seats as they treated the injured.

It was extremely lucky that the airplane had not yet reached cruising altitude, when passengers and flight attendants might be walking around the cabin, Homendy said.

“No one was seated in 26A and B where that door plug is, the aircraft was around 16,000 feet and only 10 minutes out from the airport when the door blew,” she said. The investigation is expected to take months.

The aircraft involved rolled off the assembly line and received its certification two months ago, according to online FAA records. It had been on 145 flights since entering commercial service Nov. 11, said FlightRadar24, another tracking service. The flight from Portland was the aircraft’s third of the day.

Aviation experts were stunned that a piece would fly off a new aircraft. Anthony Brickhouse, a professor of aerospace safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said he has seen panels of fuselage come off planes before, but couldn’t recall one where passengers “are looking at the lights of the city.”

The Max is the newest version of Boeing’s venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on U.S. domestic flights. The plane went into service in May 2017.

The president of the union representing flight attendants at 19 airlines, including Alaska Airlines, commended the crew for keeping passengers safe.

“Flight Attendants are trained for emergencies and we work every flight for aviation safety first and foremost,” Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said in a statement Saturday.

Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people and leading to a near two-year worldwide grounding of all Max 8 and Max 9 planes. They returned to service only after Boeing made changes to an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.

Last year, the FAA told pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system on the Max in dry conditions because of concern that inlets around the engines could overheat and break away, possibly striking the plane.

Max deliveries have been interrupted at times to fix manufacturing flaws. The company told airlines in December to inspect the planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system.

___

Koenig reported from Dallas. Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska. Associated Press reporters Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu, Hawaii, contributed.

The required inspections take around four to eight hours per aircraft and affect about 171 airplanes worldwide.

Alaska Airlines said in a statement that of the 65 737 Max 9 aircraft in its fleet, crews had inspected the paneled-over exits as part of recent maintenance work on 18 planes, and those were cleared to return to service Saturday. Inspections for the remaining aircraft were expected to be completed in the coming days, the company said.

An Alaska Airlines jetliner blew out a portion of its fuselage shortly after takeoff 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) above Oregon late Friday, forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing as its 171 passengers and six crew members donned oxygen masks.

No one was seriously hurt as the depressurized plane returned safely to Portland International Airport about 20 minutes after departure.

Authorities are still looking for the door from the paneled-over exit and have a good idea of where it landed, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said at a news conference late Saturday.

“If you find that, please, please contact local law enforcement,” she said.

It was extremely lucky that the airplane had not yet reached cruising altitude, when passengers and the flight crew take off their seatbelts and walk about the cabin, Homendy said.

“No one was seated in 26A and B where that door plug is, the aircraft was around 16,000 feet and only 10 minutes out from the airport when the door blew,” she said. “Fortunately, they were not a cruise altitude of 30,000 or 35,000 feet.”

Passenger Evan Smith said a boy and his mother were sitting in the row where the panel blew out, and the child’s shirt was sucked off him and out of the plane.

“You heard a big loud bang to the left rear. A whooshing sound and all the oxygen masks deployed instantly and everyone got those on,” Smith told KATU-TV.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Saturday it will investigate.

Alaska Airlines CEO Ben Minicucci said the inspection of the company’s 737-9 aircraft could take days to complete. They make up a fifth of the company’s 314 planes.

“We are working with Boeing and regulators to understand what occurred … and will share updates as more information is available,” Minicucci said. “My heart goes out to those who were on this flight – I am so sorry for what you experienced.”

Alaska canceled more than 100 flights, or 15% of its Saturday schedule by midday, according to FlightAware. United said the plane inspections would result in about 60 cancellations.

The Port of Portland, which operates the airport, told KPTV that the fire department treated minor injuries at the scene. One person was taken for more treatment but wasn’t seriously hurt.

Flight 1282 took off from Portland at 5:07 p.m. Friday for a two-hour flight to Ontario, California. About six minutes later, the chunk of the fuselage blew out as the plane was at about 16,000 feet (4.8 kilometers). One of the pilots declared an emergency and asked for clearance to descend to 10,000 feet (3 kilometers), the altitude where the air would have enough oxygen to breathe safely.

‘We need to turn back to Portland,” the pilot told controllers in a calm voice that she maintained throughout the landing.

Videos posted by passengers online showed a gaping hole where the paneled-over exit had been and passengers wearing masks. They applauded when the plane landed safely about 13 minutes after the blowout. Firefighters then came down the aisle, asking passengers to remain in their seats as they treated the injured.

The aircraft involved rolled off the assembly line and received its certification two months ago, according to online FAA records. It had been on 145 flights since entering commercial service Nov. 11, said FlightRadar24, another tracking service. The flight from Portland was the aircraft’s third of the day.

Aviation experts were stunned that a piece would fly off a new aircraft. Anthony Brickhouse, a professor of aerospace safety at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said he has seen panels of fuselage come off planes before, but couldn’t recall one where passengers “are looking at the lights of the city.”

He said the incident is a reminder for passengers to stay buckled in.

Alaska Airlines Jan 5

Alaska Airlines plane loses window and chunk of fuselage mid-air, video shows

Alaska Airlines Dec 8, 2023

Pilot who tried to cut plane's engines is released from jail; must avoid aircraft

“If there had been a passenger in that window seat who just happened to have their seat belt off, we’d be looking at a totally different news story.”

The Max is the newest version of Boeing’s venerable 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle plane frequently used on U.S. domestic flights. The plane went into service in May 2017.

The president of the union representing flight attendants at 19 airlines, including Alaska Airlines, commended the crew for keeping passengers safe.

“Flight Attendants are trained for emergencies and we work every flight for aviation safety first and foremost,” Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said in a statement Saturday.

Two Max 8 jets crashed in 2018 and 2019, killing 346 people and leading to a near two-year worldwide grounding of all Max 8 and Max 9 planes. They returned to service only after Boeing made changes to an automated flight control system implicated in the crashes.

Last year the FAA told pilots to limit use of an anti-ice system on the Max in dry conditions because of concern that inlets around the engines could overheat and break away, possibly striking the plane.

Max deliveries have been interrupted at times to fix manufacturing flaws. The company told airlines in December to inspect the planes for a possible loose bolt in the rudder-control system.

___

Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska. Associated Press reporters Terry Spencer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Audrey McAvoy in Honolulu, Hawaii contributed.

Arriving at or departing from a destination on time is one of the most important considerations a traveler takes before deciding whether to book a subsequent flight from the same airline.

Latest results from travel data analytics firm Cirium revealed that the most punctual airline last year in the global category was Colombia’s Avianca Airlines, which achieved an 85.73% on-time performance rate, followed by Brazil’s Azul Airlines (85.51%), which lost its top ranking. Qatar Airways came in third with an 85.11% OTP rate.

A global airline is defined as one that serves in three regions daily, the company said.

An airline’s on-time performance is calculated by whether the plane arrives at the gate within 15 minutes of the scheduled arrival time and if it departs within 15 minutes of the scheduled departure time.

Asia’s most on-time airlines

In Asia-Pacific, Japanese carriers All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines claimed the top two spots with on-time performance rates of 82.75% and 82.58% respectively.

Thailand’s Thai AirAsia fell to fourth place last year from first in 2022.

Indian low-cost carrier Indigo rose to fourth from fifth place last year on the back of the company’s rapid expansion.

The airline, which has the largest fleet size and market share in India, became the first Indian carrier in 2023 to carry 100 million passengers in a calendar year.

It had an on-time performance score of 82.12%, the report showed.

“IndiGo has really emerged as a powerful player in APAC. Their operations have been transformed since Covid,” said David White, vice-president of business development at Cirium.

“It’s giving both ANA [All Nippon Airways] and JAL [Japan Airlines] a run for their money in terms of their on-time performance,” White said at an online press conference ahead of the report’s release.

Most punctual airports

Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport was the world’s most punctual airport in 2023.

This was followed by India’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad.

The Indian airport did not make the top 10 rankings in 2022, and the monumental jump to second is on the back of “pretty phenomenal” investments, said Mike Malik, Cirium’s chief marketing officer.

“You don’t sustain these numbers unless you’re paying very close attention and you’re making all the right investments in technology tools, process and people,” White highlighted.

Here’s the full ranking, according to Cirium.

Global

1. Avianca Airlines — Colombia
2. Azul Airlines — Brazil
3. Qatar Airways — Qatar
4. Delta Air Lines — U.S.
5. Iberia — Spain

Asia-Pacific

1. All Nippon Airways — Japan
2. Japan Airlines — Japan
3. Thai AirAsia — Thailand
4. IndiGo — India
5. Air New Zealand — New Zealand

Europe

1. Iberia Express — Spain
2. Iberia — Spain
3. Norwegian Air Shuttle — Norway
4. Austrian Airlines — Austria
5. LOT Polish Airlines — Poland

Global airports

1. Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport — U.S.
2. Rajiv Gandhi International Airport — India
3. Kempegowda International Airport — India
4. El Dorado International Airport — Colombia
5. Salt Lake City International Airport — U.S.

The teen was supposed to fly to Cleveland, Ohio, on a Dec. 22 flight out of Tampa International Airport but “mistakenly boarded a different flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico,” a spokesperson for the airline company said.

Both flights departed from the same gate, with the San Juan flight departing first, Frontier said.

The teen was immediately flown back to Tampa and put on a flight to Cleveland the following day.

Ryan Lose told “NBC Nightly News” that his son, Logan Lose, was nervous about flying alone for the first time and checked with the gate agent before boarding his flight. Ryan Lose said the agent checked his son’s baggage and looked at his boarding pass but did not scan it.

Read the full story at NBCNews.com here.

Boeing is urging airlines to inspect 737 Max planes to look for a “possible loose bolt” in the rudder control system, the latest quality issue to affect the manufacturer’s bestselling jetliner.

The company recommended the inspections after “an international operator discovered a bolt with a missing nut while performing routine maintenance on a mechanism in the rudder-control linkage,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement Thursday. “The company discovered an additional undelivered aircraft with a nut that was not properly tightened.”

The inspections will take about two hours per plane, and all new 737 Maxes will undergo the check before they’re handed over to customers, Boeing said.

“The issue identified on the particular airplane has been remedied,” Boeing said in a statement. “Out of an abundance of caution, we are recommending operators inspect their 737 MAX airplanes and inform us of any findings.

Shares of Boeing were down more than 1% in afternoon trading.

Alaska Airlines plans to start the inspections on Thursday. A spokeswoman said the carrier anticipates completing them in the first half of January. “We don’t expect any operational impact as a result,” she said.

A spokeswoman for United Airlines, one of the biggest 737 Max customers, said the carrier doesn’t expect any impact to its operations as a result of the issue.

American Airlines said in a statement that it will complete the inspections and that it also doesn’t anticipate its operations to be impacted by them.

Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO:

• Official Wall Street outlook: Here’s where strategists see the stock market going in 2024
• Here’s where to invest $50,000 heading into 2024, according to market pros
• Morgan Stanley prefers ‘boring’ non-AI tech stocks for 2024. Here are its top global picks
• Bank of America reveals its 4 top biotech picks for 2024 — and gives one 166% upside
• CD rates are dropping. Here’s where to find the highest payouts

Alaska Air Group has agreed to buy rival Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal, setting up another potential regulatory battle in the second proposed airline merger in less than two years.

Alaska would pay $18 a share for Hawaiian and would take on $900 million of its debt, the companies said Sunday. Shares of Hawaiian Airlines closed on Friday at $4.86, giving the company a market cap of about $250 million. They’re down nearly 53% this year.

The airline has struggled with challenges including the Maui wildfires, increased competition from Southwest, which has ramped up service in Hawaii in recent years, and a lagging recovery of travel to and from Asia after the pandemic. Hawaiian has posted net losses in all but one quarter since the start of 2020, while Alaska and other carriers have returned to more solid financial footing as the pandemic waned.

“What we saw here was a unique opportunity in time at the valuation that we saw Hawaiian at,” said Shane Tackett, Alaska Airlines’ CFO, in an interview. He said the deal would also enable the combined companies to become a “market leader” in the premium-travel Hawaii market.

Carriers have faced strong opposition from President Joe Biden’s Justice Department in their efforts to combine to better compete with larger rivals. Earlier this year, the DOJ won a lawsuit to break up a regional partnership in the Northeast between JetBlue Airways and American Airlines.

The Justice Departments also sued to block JetBlue Airways‘ proposed acquisition of discount carrier Spirit Airlines. A trial is expected to wrap up in the coming days.

Four airlines — American, United, Delta and Southwest — control about 80% of the U.S. market. Hawaiian and Alaska said they expect the transaction to close in 12 to 18 months, subject to approval by regulators and Hawaiian’s shareholders.

On a call with analysts on Sunday evening, Alaska CEO Ben Minicucci expressed confidence in the deal getting approved, citing 12 overlapping markets, a combined 1,400 daily flights and a larger network that he said would allow the airline to compete with the four largest carriers.

“We are hopeful that it will be seen in a positive light,” he said.

The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents cabin crews at both airlines said it would evaluate the deal.

“Our first priority is to determine whether this merger will improve conditions for Flight Attendants just like the benefits the companies have described for shareholders and consumers,” the AFA said in a statement. “Our support of the merger will depend on this.”

The combined company will be based in Seattle, where Alaska Airlines is headquartered, and be led by Minicucci.

“Given the transaction dollars we paid we feel this is strategically a step-change for us to accelerate not only our financial performance but the growth of our network,” he said said on the call.

The two airlines said they will keep each carrier’s brand but operate under a single platform, combining into a 365-airplane fleet covering 138 destinations.

Prior to pursuing Hawaiian, Alaska Airlines acquired Virgin America for $2.6 billion in 2016.

The Hawaiian deal is a major shift for Alaska. It operates Boeing 737s and it spent years whittling down Virgin’s fleet of Airbus planes to streamline its fleet. Purchasing Hawaiian would bring a complex mix of Boeing and Airbus jets, both narrow-body and wide-body planes, under Alaska’s roof.

“The Hawaiian brand will remain an important part of our home state with Honolulu becoming a strategic hub for the combined company and expanded service for Hawaii residents,” Hawaiian CEO Peter Ingram said on the call Sunday.

The combination will allow Alaska Airlines to triple nonstop or one-stop flights from the Hawaiian islands to destinations throughout North America. It will also bring Hawaiian’s long-haul flying to and from Asia under Alaska’s umbrella. Hawaiian last year struck a deal to fly converted-cargo planes for Amazon.

Alaska Airlines said the deal should bolster earnings within the next two years with at least $235 million of “run-rate synergies.”

WATCH: Maui tourism still not back to full strength since wildfires

Airlines have a record 260 million seats to fill this quarter, and to do it, they’re offering fares that will run you about the same as a pair of movie tickets.

Southwest Airlines, for example, last month offered one-way fares of $29 for flights early in the morning or at night, just one example of airline discounting for off-peak periods.

“I would characterize the amount of discounting or sales that we’re doing today as a bit more than normal,” Ryan Green, Southwest’s chief commercial officer, told reporters at the Skift Aviation Forum earlier this month. He said the industry’s increased capacity in recent months means there are more seats to fill, even though the carrier’s average fare was up in the last quarter from a year ago.

Leisure travelers, meanwhile, have largely returned to more traditional booking patterns after years of pandemic swings in demand, leaving airlines looking for ways to fill planes outside of holidays or other popular travel periods.

“Typically, you see a step increase in price at each seven-day mark before a flight,” said Scott Keyes, founder of Scott’s Cheap Flights, a flight-deal company that recently rebranded as Going. But airlines are either dropping last-minute fares or not raising them as much as usual, he said.

Airlines have scheduled a record 259.8 million seats for domestic flights in the fourth quarter, up nearly 8% from last year, on 1.86 million flights, up 6% from 2022, according to aviation data firm Cirium.

Getting the balance right in the off-season is a challenge for airlines, which make the majority of their revenue in the second and third quarters during the busy spring and summer seasons. Most major carriers reported record revenue and strong demand during those periods, with some executives reporting higher growth for international destinations over domestic ones.

Falling fares

The U.S. inflation read for September showed airfare dropped more than 13% from a year earlier, while overall consumer prices rose.

JetBlue Airways said average fares dropped more than 12% in the third quarter during the same period of 2022 to $201.73.

Budget carrier Spirit Airlines said fares dropped nearly 28% from a year earlier to $48.73, though non-ticket revenue, which includes add-ons such as seat selection fees and checked bags, rose 1% to $67.70.

The Miramar, Florida-based airline, which JetBlue is trying to buy, warned about fare discounting before Thanksgiving and said, “Unfortunately, we have not seen the anticipated return to a normal demand and pricing environment for the peak holiday periods.”

Fellow ultra-discounter Frontier Airlines said fares averaged a little more than $39 in the last quarter, down 32% from a year ago.

All three carriers forecast losses for the last three months of the year.

Rethinking capacity

Declining pricing power in the off-peak periods has forced carriers to rethink where they’re deploying their planes.

Southwest plans to slow its growth next year to address the shifting demand patterns, though CEO Bob Jordan described demand on an earnings call late last month as “strong.”

“Capacity is the most precious commodity you have to produce revenue, and you got to deploy that capacity as efficiently as possible against demand,” Jordan said during the Skift Aviation Forum.

The carrier is planning to fly less on nonpeak days, like Tuesdays, compared with higher-demand periods, a measure that also prioritizes crews’ time so they are ready fly more when it’s busy, Jordan said.

Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle told CNBC that one thing the airline is changing is finding less crowded markets for its flights.

“We are concentrating our growth away from the saturated markets,” he said. “We will not shrink in Orlando and Vegas, but we’re probably not going to grow it either.”

Holiday demand is still strong

With shifting demand comes those eye-catching, double-digit fares.

But they’re usually gone quickly and are nearly guaranteed to be unavailable for peak holiday periods, with demand expected to hit or break records.

Delta Air Lines said it expects to carry between 6.2 million and 6.4 million passengers from Nov. 17 to Nov. 28 during the Thanksgiving period, compared with 5.7 million last year and 6.25 million in 2019. United Airlines said it expects to fly 5.9 million passengers from Nov. 17 to Nov. 29, up 13% from last year and 5% more than 2019. American Airlines forecast a record 7.8 million travelers from Nov. 16 to Nov. 28, up from 7 million last year and beating out 2019 by around 200,000 customers.

Southwest CEO Jordan said year-end holiday bookings are running ahead of last year’s pace.

Flight tracker Hopper said “good deal” domestic fares, which it defines as the bottom 10th percentile of available fares, are averaging $248 for Thanksgiving, down from $271 last year and $276 in 2019.

Could it last?

Airlines are now poring over their schedules for 2024 to try to best use their aircraft while they face higher costs such as fuel and labor that have pinched margins.

“You’re seeing carriers put out fares that look kind of like our fares, and what you should really think about is that that’s not going to be permanent,” Frontier’s CEO Biffle said, citing costs.

Carriers have gotten more sophisticated about addressing shifting demand patterns, meaning they can cut flights or capacity during travel lulls.

Next year, fares are likely to stabilize, but it’s too early to tell what promotional fares will be, said Henry Harteveldt, founder of travel industry consulting firm Atmosphere Research Group.

“If inflation really continues at the torrid place it has been, if we see hiring soften, airlines may feel a need to invest in deeper promotion,” he said.

One advantage for full-service carriers is the variety of fares and products they can offer, from no-frills basic economy to first class, Harteveldt. That means they could increase their inventory of cheaper basic economy fares during weaker demand periods, or raise fares when demand is high for premium seats.

Airlines “have the most sophisticated cash registers of any industry,” he said.

Don’t miss these stories from CNBC PRO:

• 75% of Warren Buffett’s equity portfolio is in just 5 stocks. Here’s what they are
• These two banks just hiked their 1-year CD yield to 5.3%
• A prudent way to bet on a bounce in Apple following its post-earnings decline
• Stifel says the S&P 500 will keep climbing ‘wall of worry’ to hit 4,400, gives 10 stocks to play rally

A pilot accused of threatening to shoot a commercial airline captain if they diverted their flight to give a passenger medical attention is an Air Force Reserve lieutenant colonel who was relieved of command for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.

Jonathan J. Dunn’s military service came to light in a Utah U.S. Attorney’s Office filing Thursday in which a judge was asked to delay his arraignment for 45 to 60 days to allow time for the U.S. military to bring Dunn back from overseas.

Dunn was indicted Oct. 18 and charged with interfering with a flight crew over the alleged in-flight incident in August 2022. The Transportation Department’s inspector general had said Dunn threatened to shoot the captain during the disagreement over whether to divert because of the passenger’s medical issue.

Dunn was afterward sent on orders to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, training to serve at the 603rd Air Operations Center. The Air Force has suspended his access to sensitive information and to the air operations center because of the airline incident, according to a spokesman for the Air Force in Europe.

Phone messages and an email seeking comment from Dunn’s lawyer were not immediately returned Thursday.

Though Dunn flew for Delta Air Lines, investigators have not said on which airline or route the confrontation happened. On Wednesday, Delta said Dunn no longer worked there, and federal officials say his authority to carry a gun on board was revoked.

He is the same Jonathan Dunn who unsuccessfully sued the Pentagon to prevent the Air Force from disciplining him for refusing to receive a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination, according to a person familiar with the matter who would only discuss non-public information on condition of anonymity.

Dunn objected to the vaccine on religious grounds. He also argued that he was already protected because he contracted the virus in 2021. The U.S. Supreme Court declined in a 6-3 decision to consider whether to block further punishment for him while his case proceeded.

Dunn had been relieved of command after contracting the coronavirus and refusing the vaccine in 2021, and faced being sent to the Individual Ready Reserve where he could not serve in any unit or be eligible for training opportunities, according to a Supreme Court filing.

Whether Dunn was punished further was unclear from court documents.

According to court records, Dunn was commissioned as an Air Force officer in 2003 and logged more than 1,400 hours flying combat missions over Afghanistan. He left active duty and joined the Air Force Reserve in 2014, serving as commander of a reserve squadron at March Air Reserve Base in California, according to the Air Force.

During active duty, Dunn flew a bomber and reconnaissance plane in combat over Afghanistan, as well as training aircraft, according to the Supreme Court filing.

After the Air Force rejected his request for a religious exemption from a required COVID-19 vaccination, Dunn was removed as a commander in February 2022. He immediately sued the Pentagon and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Dunn’s lawyers said he had received many other vaccines but raised a religious objection to the COVID-19 vaccine because government leaders elevated it from a health measure to a procedure with “symbolic and sacramental quality.” After losing in lower courts, Dunn’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was dismissed in April 2022 in an unsigned order that gave no explanation for the decision. Three conservative justices – Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch – opposed dismissal of the case.

A grand jury in Utah issued the indictment against Dunn on Oct. 18 over the alleged threat against a fellow pilot in August 2022, charging him with interference with a flight crew, according to federal court records.

Dunn was the first officer, or co-pilot, on the flight and authorized to carry a gun under a program run by the Transportation Security Administration, according to the inspector general office for the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Dunn had threatened the captain with being shot “multiple times” if they diverted, the inspector general’s office said in an email Tuesday.

Why the indictment came down more than a year after the incident was unclear. Utah U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Felicia Martinez did not immediately return phone or email messages Thursday.

Interference with a flight crew is a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. An arraignment was scheduled for Nov. 16.

The pilot’s indictment came a few days before an off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot riding in the cockpit jump seat tried to shut down the engines of a Horizon Air jet in mid-flight, according to authorities. He was subdued by the captain and co-pilot and arrested after the plane diverted to Portland, Oregon.

Joseph David Emerson of Pleasant Hill, California, told police he was suffering from depression and had taken psychedelic mushrooms 48 hours before the flight. He pleaded not guilty in state court in Oregon to charges of attempted murder.

___

Baldor reported from Washington, D.C., and Koenig from Dallas.

The San Francisco-bound flight was being operated by Alaska subsidiary Horizon Air from Everett, Wash., to San Francisco on Sunday when it was diverted to Portland, Ore., where it was met by law enforcement officers.

Authorities in Portland identified the man as Joseph David Emerson, 44. He was being held Monday on dozens of counts of attempted murder and reckless endangerment, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon.

Alaska Airlines said Monday that the crew reported “a credible security threat related to an authorized occupant in the flight deck jump seat.” The airline said in a statement that no weapons were involved.

“The jump seat occupant unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt the operation of the engines,” the airline said. “The Horizon Captain and First Officer quickly responded, engine power was not lost and the crew secured the aircraft without incident.”

One of the pilots told air traffic controllers that the man who posed the threat had been removed from the cockpit.

“We’ve got the guy that tried to shut the engines down out of the cockpit. And he — doesn’t sound like he’s causing any issue in the back right now, and I think he’s subdued,” one of the pilots said on audio captured by LiveATC.com. “Other than that, we want law enforcement as soon as we get on the ground and parked.”

The incident occurred on a 76-seat Embraer 175 plane. Alaska Airlines did not immediately say how many passengers were on board.

When the jump seat, a third seat in the cockpit, is occupied it’s often filled by an off-duty pilot, but the seat can be used by other airline employees or federal safety inspectors.

The Airbus A320 with 146 passengers and nine crew made an emergency landing about 4:15 p.m. Sunday, Changi Airport said in a statement on its Facebook page. The flight was coming from the city of Chengdu in China‘s Sichuan province.

Nine people had minor injuries related to smoke inhalation and abrasions during the evacuation, the statement said.

The pilot declared an emergency after reporting smoke in the forward cargo hold and a lavatory. Smoke blurred the lights in the cabin and flight attendants told people to remain calm and stay in their seats after some stood up, a passenger told Chinese media.

The fire in the left engine was extinguished after the plane landed, Chinese media said. A preliminary investigation indicated a mechanical failure in the engine was the cause, Air China said in statement posted on social media early Monday.

The investigation was continuing.

On Tuesday, United Airlines flights were grounded for more than an hour after the carrier experienced computer issues, the Federal Administration said.

It’s just the latest example of the many problems facing air travel this year. Situations like this make it important to know that as a passenger you always have rights.

CNBC Make It talked to Tomasz Pawliszyn, CEO of AirHelp and Clint Henderson, managing editor at The Points Guy, about the essential steps you should take when your flight is delayed or canceled.

How to find out if your flight is delayed or canceled

Airlines will often notify you about delays and cancellations by email, text, or app notification if you provide the appropriate contact information when booking.

That said, doing your due diligence is also essential. Henderson says one of his favorite apps is Flightradar24, a live flight tracker showing real-time air traffic.

“I’m always tracking my flights so I can see where my planes are coming from and the status,” Henderson said.

What to do if your flight is delayed

Most airlines allow passengers to track flights via their applications.

By tracking where your plane is coming from, you can gauge whether your flight will be delayed. If you notice a delay is imminent, it might be worth contacting the airline to see if they can rebook you on another.

“You’re not always going to get an airline willing to work with you in those situations,” Henderson added.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Airline Customer Service Dashboard shares passenger rights for specific airlines and the agreement made by the 10 largest carriers, including Delta Air Lines and American Airlines, in the event of “controllable” cancellations and delays.

Those passenger rights include major airlines having to rebook passengers on the same airline at no additional cost for “significant” delays and covering meals if there’s a delay of three hours or more.

Some will rebook on a partner airline at no additional cost.

What to do if your flight is canceled

The first thing you should do when you find out your flight is canceled is contact the airline.

Pawliszyn recommends calling while getting in line at the customer service desk at the airport. But his biggest tip is to try to get rebooked on another flight immediately, even if it’s with a different airline.

“I always push to rebook on the same airline or airline group. It’s quite standard for airlines to have agreements with each other,” he said. “They tend to bend the rules in the spirit of good customer service. They might not always agree but it’s always worth trying.”

Henderson suggests taking it further by reaching out to the airline on social media or even looking for the international toll-free number, especially during irregular hours.

“You want to use every tool in the toolbox to get yourself pre-booked first,” he said.

Henderson added that it’s important to remember that if an airline cancels your flight, you’re legally entitled to a full refund, which includes the ticket price, taxes, baggage fees, extra charges, and ancillary fees.

Passengers must receive that refund within seven business days if they paid by credit card and within 20 days if by cash or check.

Always have a plan B

As an expert traveler, Henderson suggests that passengers know what other airlines are running flights around the same time. That way, if your flight gets canceled, you can see if they are willing to book you on a competitor carrier.

“All these airlines have interline agreements with each other,” he said. “It’s always an option you should have in your back pocket.”

Henderson added that when you contact the airline, give them the competitor’s information and see how much they are willing to work with you.

If your flight is canceled, you may be entitled to additional compensation

Thanks to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Airline Customer Service Dashboard, all major airlines— except for Frontier—will cover a hotel stay and transportation to the hotel in the event of an overnight cancellation. 

It also doesn’t hurt to ask the airline for reimbursement of expenses brought on by a flight cancellation. And keep in mind that many credit cards offer customers travel protection.

“When your flight is canceled, the credit card company can be your best friend,” Pawliszyn said. “In this situation, you can process a chargeback, which means asking the credit card to return the money for services not executed.”

Pawliszyn also suggests keeping a record of all the expenses and conversations with the airline because it might come in handy when advocating for yourself and the compensation you’re entitled to.

“A lot of the time, it’s on the passenger to push the airline to resolve the challenge they have with you as a client,” Pawliszyn said.

DON’T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work & life? Sign up for our new newsletter!

Get CNBC’s free Warren Buffett Guide to Investing, which distills the billionaire’s No. 1 best piece of advice for regular investors, do’s and don’ts, and three key investing principles into a clear and simple guidebook.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the airline requested the ground stop at all airports around noon CT.

“United Airlines asked the FAA to pause the airline’s departures nationwide,” the FAA said in a statement to NBC Chicago.

The issue appeared to have stemmed from a “systemwide technology issue,” according to the airline.

“We are experiencing a systemwide technology issue and are holding all aircraft at their departure airports,” the airline told NBC Chicago in a statement. “Flights that are already airborne are continuing to their destination as planned. We’re currently investigating and will share more information as it becomes available.”

The ground stop was lifted just before 1 p.m.

“We have identified a fix for the technology issue and flights have resumed. We’re working with impacted customers to help them reach their destinations as soon as possible,” the airline said.

United Airlines last week predicted it would have its biggest Labor Day weekend ever, with nearly 2.8 million passengers in a six-day stretch, ending Tuesday.

Check back for more on this developing story.

As part of a class action settlement, Delta customers with canceled flights between March 1, 2020, and April 30, 2021, are entitled to a full cash refund, rather than the travel credits they likely received.

The lawsuit alleges that the airline breached its contracts of carriage by refusing cash refunds for flights canceled during the Covid-19 pandemic. While Delta denies wrongdoing, the company agreed to settle the lawsuit to avoid further litigation.

“Delta does not admit or acknowledge it failed to follow its contract of carriage or that it failed to provide refunds in accordance with its contract of carriage,” the airline said in a statement provided to CNBC Make It.

“Since the beginning of 2020 we’ve refunded over 11 million tickets totaling $6 billion, of which 20% took place in 2022,” the statement says.

How to claim your cash refund

To qualify for a cash refund, you must be a U.S. citizen who requested a refund through Delta’s customer service department after your flight was canceled.

If you did not receive a refund or were given a travel credit, Delta owes you a cash refund worth the full or unused amount, provided that it was not used as of Jan. 13, 2023. The refund includes an additional payment of 7% interest on the original ticket price.

If you had multiple flights canceled between March 1, 2020, and April 30, 2021, you can claim a refund for each one.

To claim a refund, you are required to submit a claim form through the class action’s website. You can submit a claim by mail, sent to an address posted on the website. Claim forms must be postmarked or submitted online by Sept. 15, 2023.

To prove that you made the purchase, you’ll need to include documented evidence, ideally a receipt that shows flight information, including the date of the flight.

It’s not yet clear when refunds will be issued. An Oct. 5 court hearing is scheduled to approve the settlement, so payments will not be sent out before that date.

If you’re not sure whether you’re an eligible claimant, you can call the settlement administrator at 1-888-814-6501, or email info@AirlineTicketSettlement.com.

DON’T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work & life? Sign up for our new newsletter!

Get CNBC’s free Warren Buffett Guide to Investing, which distills the billionaire’s No. 1 best piece of advice for regular investors, do’s and don’ts, and three key investing principles into a clear and simple guidebook.

Aliza Carr, a midwife based in Sydney, recently shared on Instagram a clip of herself rocking her then-4-month-old daughter, Zadie, near an emergency exit row.

“If you’ve traveled with a little one, how did they go to sleep?” Carr asked in the caption. “I know if my child’s life depended on it, she wouldn’t sleep in the plane bassinet, or even on us — standing, bouncing and aggressively swaying is the only way.” 

Shortly after Carr shared her post, responses came flying in.

“If I was sitting at that exit row and paid for the extra leg room… I’d be so mad having this happening in front of me the whole flight!” one person wrote. 

Added another, “No. A hard No! You can bounce your sweet babe in the back of the plane. I’d be pissed as passenger that was forced to watch you bounce.” 

Several people shamed Carr for traveling with a young baby, with one woman branding the new mom as “selfish” for not staying home. Carr was also accused of “training” her daughter to need movement in order to sleep. 

On Aug. 30, Carr addressed her critics in a lengthy Instagram post.  

“This week, a reel I shared of me quietly bouncing my 4 month old baby in an empty part of a plane (where the flight attendants sit for take off and landing / where people stretch / wait for the bathroom etc.) made news headlines,” Carr began.

“The comments themselves are almost entirely from women, largely mothers, which for me is the worst part,” Carr continued. “At what point do you forget that you too birthed, bled, leaked and lost yourself in the spiral of Mamahood just trying to do your best? It’s beyond me.” 

Carr then offered some thoughts on the negative effect that trolls have on new parents.

“It amplifies the revolting notion that children should be seen and not heard. That their well-being doesn’t matter, as along as the comfort of strangers isn’t jeopardized,” Carr wrote. Secondly, she added, “It pushes the opinion that a mother responding to her new baby is being manipulated, and is spoiling that baby.”

Carr also called attention to the messages she received from parents who said the nasty comments on her post are exactly why they’re afraid to travel with little ones.

“This is what makes me sad. That strangers on the internet can go on to impact someone’s choices,” Carr explained. 

According to Catherine Newman, an etiquette expert and author of “How to Be a Person,” Carr did absolutely nothing wrong. It’s the trolls who need to brush up on their manners.

“Money doesn’t buy you the privilege of not caring about other people,” Newman tells TODAY.com. “You could have paid $1,000 for a first class upgrade and the person next to you gets sick. This is the world of fallible human bodies, and we defer to people who are in need of space and resources. It’s not that complicated.”

Newman also notes that the same people complaining about Carr comforting her baby in the extra-legroom area, are the same people who would complain if she didn’t comfort her baby.

Carr agrees. As she wrote on Instagram, “I can only imagine the comments if they saw me walking up and down the plane with my boob out breastfeeding my baby for 90% of the flight.”

This article first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

• ‘Gossip Girl’ reunion: Penn Badgley and Taylor Momsen are together again for his podcast
• Target just dropped hundreds of new deals for Labor Day — here’s what we’re shopping
• Jessica Simpson shares back-to-school photos — and a relatable message

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

The Federal Aviation Administration predicts that this will be the third busiest holiday weekend of the year so far, behind only the Juneteenth weekend, which included Father’s Day, and the Presidents Day break.

Hurricane Idalia weakened and headed out to sea Thursday. While the storm left damage and power outages, its impact on travel eased. Airlines canceled several dozen flights in Florida and Georgia on Thursday but expected to operate at full strength Friday. Travelers can check conditions where they are going on the FAA website.

travel Aug 30, 2023

Google now tells you the cheapest dates to book a flight: Here's how

Thursday figured to be the busiest day in U.S. airspace, with 52,203 flights scheduled, followed by 49,111 flights on Friday, according to the FAA. After a lull on Saturday and Sunday, flights are scheduled to pick back up Monday and Tuesday. The numbers include airline, military and some private flights.

The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen more than 14 million passengers from Friday through Wednesday, up nearly 11% over the same weekend last year.

TSA Administrator David Pekoske warned that at times it could take more than 30 minutes to get through security and more than 10 minutes in PreCheck lanes, “so we encourage you to arrive early, pack your patience.” The agency recommended that travelers get to the airport two hours before their flight.

AAA said bookings for domestic travel — flights, hotels, rental cars, and cruises — are running 4% higher than Labor Day last year. The auto club and insurance seller said international bookings are up a staggering 44% now that COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted, with the top destinations being Vancouver, Rome, London, Dublin, and Paris.

Gasoline prices are similar to last year. The nationwide average was $3.83 a gallon on Wednesday, a penny less than a year ago, AAA reported.

On many planes this weekend, every seat is expected to be filled, capping a busy summer.

American Airlines expects to carry nearly 3.5 million passengers on about 32,000 flights between Thursday and next Tuesday. United Airlines is predicting its biggest Labor Day weekend ever, with nearly 2.8 million passengers in that same six-day stretch.

TSA figures show that the number of travelers going through U.S. airport checkpoints in August is 2% higher than in August 2019, before the pandemic.

The good news for travelers is that the rate of canceled flights is down about 19% from last summer, according to data from tracking service FlightAware. Still, the 1.8% cancellation rate since June 1 is a tick higher than during the same period in 2019, and flights delays are even more common than last summer.

Weather has accounted for about three-fourths of all airline delays this year, according to the FAA, but at other times the volume of flights has been too much for FAA air traffic control centers, many of which are understaffed.

Travelers have enjoyed a bit of a break from last year’s skyrocketing airfares. The average fare for a domestic flight in July was down 9% from June and 19% from last July, according to the government’s consumer price index. However, the index sample is skewed toward discount airlines — the biggest airlines have reported that their prices are closer to 2022 levels.

Airline passengers often end up at odds over many aspects of the in-flight experience — a reclining seat in the knees, groups of travelers asking others to switch rows, and overhead cabin battles, among them. Now on many international air carrier flights there is a more civilized way to compete with fellow passengers: a seat upgrade auction.

How it works is fairly simple: a week or so before a flight, passengers receive an email letting them know about potentially available seat upgrades. If they want to participate, they provide their credit card details and enter a bid. If they have the winning bid, their card is charged and their seat is upgraded, often at a steep discount when compared to what the upgraded seat would have cost at the original time of purchase.

While the concept has caught on around the globe, the U.S. airlines are for the most part an exception. Spirit Airlines offers upgrades to its Big Front Seat (which is just what it sounds like: a bigger seat near the front of the aircraft) through its SeatBid program. But no other major U.S. carriers offer upgrade auction programs. 

Major U.S. carriers are at least likely to be weighing the costs and benefits of the practice, says Zack Griff, senior aviation writer for travel site The Points Guy, since upgrades are built into the business model already. But the auction model specifically raises significant tensions with the way upgrades are offered today.

“Most major U.S. airlines offer a few ways to upgrade your flight experience, whether you’re looking for extra-legroom, premium economy or business-class seats. Traditionally, that includes three methods: you can redeem miles, cash in on your elite status perks, or simply buy an upgrade like you would a regular ticket,” Griff said.

The auction model is different because it offers often steep discounts, and underlying this approach is a truth about supply and demand economics: distressed inventory still available close to flight dates.

“In recent years,” Griff says, “the concept of selling distressed inventory — seats that will otherwise go unsold — at a blind auction has risen in popularity.”

Companies such as PlusGrade, which describes itself as being in the “ancillary revenue solutions” niche, have sold the technology to many carriers to make this offering available on many flights operated by international carriers.

Picture yourself a week before your flight: you receive an email inviting you to place a bid online to participate in an auction for seat upgrades. No calling an airline, no high upfront cost. You choose your own price, a meter lets you know how likely the bid is to win, and you leave it at that. Maybe you get the seat, maybe you don’t, but you’re in the game and you haven’t laid out anything up front. From the airline’s perspective, there will be a highest bidder, and those who don’t win the auction are no worse off than before. 

But everyone doesn’t win, especially when it comes to the way U.S. airlines reward passengers today. Consider the dutiful flier who has collected and protected their points and elite status, partly in hopes of receiving free upgrades. That person may be quietly holding their elite card, running a thumb over its edge and feeling a bit under appreciated. Airlines don’t want to alienate this person. 

The larger U.S. airlines, such as American, Delta and United, haven’t yet offered these types of auctions on a widespread basis, likely because they are keeping their premium-cabin inventory for upgrades via miles, frequent flyer perks, or last-minute buy-ups, Griff said. “These airlines advertise upgrades as a key perk of their frequent flyer programs. If they keep selling the last few premium seats for additional ancillary revenue, frequent travelers may defect to other airlines,” he said. 

American declined to comment; the rest of the U.S. carriers did not respond to requests for comment.

The upgrade model in the U.S. could change, but that’s not likely to happen quickly.

Airlines are not known for being especially tech savvy — AirPod integration, for example, might be a major breakthrough — but unloading higher-cost seats is going to be increasingly important, according to Griff, who says the traditional way of dealing in upgrades may not be optimal from a bottom-line perspective.

While in the short-term the flights mostly likely to be associated with upgrade demand — longer, international flights — are those highest in demand with American travelers, there is another side to the new reality that will last potentially longer: a sharp decline in business travel that is likely to level off but unlikely to return to pre-Covid levels.

Scott Keyes of Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights), an online platform that connects travelers with affordable airfare options, sees both the challenges and potential in such programs. “Auctioning off unsold premium seats is, without question, a major trend across the industry. More and more airlines have been adopting upgrade auctions for otherwise-unsold premium economy, business, and first class seats.”

For airlines, Keyes says the rationale is simple: upgrade auctions generate significantly more revenue for airlines than handing out upgrades for free. 

The travelers who win these seats also do well in the process, since they often receive a discount as steep as 70%-plus on a front-of-the-plane seat, Keyes said. But that also leaves a loser who wasn’t even in the competition. “Travelers with elite status who, a decade ago, may have been able to count on getting upgraded to those otherwise-empty seats,” Keyes said. 

A key to the potential evolution in the way upgrades are offered may be in his phrasing: “a decade ago.” 

“Now those seats are sold instead of given away for free,” Keyes said. “Many travelers chase elite status with the expectation — fair or not — of getting rewarded for their loyalty with future free upgrades.”

If more airlines adopt auction practices, this perk of elite status may fade, though it would undoubtedly be replaced by other perks: for instance, posh private airport lounges.

Given the reality of upgrades within the airline industry, and the changing landscape of business travel, it would not be surprising to see an increase in upgrade auctions on the part of domestic carriers in the future, likely met by some new ways to maintain customer loyalty from frequent fliers.

The estimations were contained in court filings made earlier this week, and which JetBlue says were not properly redacted.

JetBlue said Thursday that the filings are based on the opposition lawyers’ interpretation of evidence and are taking facts out of context.

news Aug 1, 2023

JetBlue cuts forecast on shift to international travel, end of American Airlines partnership

BOSTON Aug 3, 2023

Pilot took off at Logan Airport without permission, leading to close call with a JetBlue flight, report finds

Consumer advocates jumped on the news, saying that the accidental disclosure supports the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit aiming to block JetBlue’s $3.8 billion purchase of Spirit, the nation’s largest discount airline.

Even before the government lawsuit, lawyers for about two dozen consumers sued JetBlue and Spirit last November in U.S. district court in Boston, claiming that the merger would reduce competition and lead to higher prices.

Documents filed Tuesday by the consumers’ lawyers included redactions, but were done in a way that made it possible to see the hidden information by copying and pasting the text into a new document.

The claims were first reported by Law360, which covers legal news. Law360 told USA Today that the documents are no longer posted publicly.

The documents could undercut JetBlue’s argument that consumers would benefit from the merger because the combined airline would be better able to compete against giants like American, Delta and United.

In a statement Thursday, New York-based JetBlue said lawyers for the consumers “failed to properly redact certain information which, taken out of context, creates a completely inaccurate picture of the facts. We are confident that our merger with Spirit will give a much-needed boost to airline competition in the U.S. and result in more low fares and higher-quality service for customers.”

Consumer advocates who oppose the JetBlue-Spirit deal said the disclosures support their argument.

“Those of us who have been warning that a JetBlue-Spirit merger would raise fares and stifle competition can now cite an unimpeachable source — JetBlue itself,” said William J. McGee, an aviation expert at the American Economic Liberties Project, which lobbies against industry consolidation. “JetBlue’s claims that this deal will benefit consumers are hollow and contradicted by JetBlue’s own internal schemes.”

The pilot was one of three crew members in command, Latam Airlines said.

The flight Monday from Miami to Santiago, Chile, was diverted to Tocumen International Airport in Panama because of a “medical emergency of one of the three members of the crew,” Latam Airlines said Wednesday in a statement.

The pilot, who was not identified, died after the plane landed, and he received further medical assistance, Latam said.

“LATAM Group is deeply saddened by this event and takes this opportunity to express our most sincere condolences to the family of our employee. We are thankful for his 25 years of service to LATAM, distinguished by his dedication, professionalism and enthusiasm,” the airline said.

The flight left Panama City and arrived in Santiago, Chile, according to the airline.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch for the greater D.C. area, lasting until 9 p.m. A special Weather Service statement warned, “There is a significant threat for damaging and locally destructive hurricane-force winds, along with the potential for large hail and tornadoes, even strong tornadoes.”

The storms’ spread was massive, with tornado watches and warnings posted across 10 states from Tennessee to New York. The National Weather Service said more than 29.5 million people were under a tornado watch Monday afternoon.

In Anderson, South Carolina, a 15-year-old boy who arrived at his grandparent’s house during the storm was struck and killed when a tree fell on him as he got out of a car, according to the Anderson County Office of the Coroner.

In Florence, Alabama, police said a 28-year-old man was struck by lightning and died, WAAY-TV reported.

By Monday night, more than 2,600 U.S. flights had been canceled and nearly 7,900 delayed, according to flight tracking service FlightAware. Many cancellations were at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which was digging out from disruptions caused by Sunday storms.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was rerouting planes around storms heading to the East Coast.

The White House pushed up by 90 minutes President Joe Biden’s departure on a four-day trip that’s taking him to Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. The White House also canceled a back-to-school cybersecurity event that was to feature first lady Jill Biden, who is a teacher, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and school administrators, educators and education technology providers from around the country.

The Office of Personnel Management announced Monday that all non-emergency employees would have to depart before 3 p.m., when all federal offices closed.

“This does look to be one of the most impactful severe weather events across the Mid-Atlantic that we have had in some time,” National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Strong said in a Facebook live briefing.

The storms prompted federal workers to be sent home early so they wouldn’t be in their cars amid wind, hail and tornadoes.

Strong advised residents: “Have yourself in a strong shelter. Be at home or be at work.”

The storms postponed a Major League Baseball game between the Phillies and the Washington Nationals in Philadelphia, and in Maryland, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning into Tuesday after 4 inches (10.2 centimeters) of rain fell in a short amount of time.

By early evening, more than 1.1 million customers were without power across Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia — all states along the storm system’s path, according to poweroutage.us. The Knoxville Utilities Board tweeted that the damage across its service area in Tennessee was “widespread and extensive” and will likely take several days to repair.

Trees and power lines were toppled in multiple states, falling into roads and some homes, news outlets reported.

A row of utility poles was toppled in Westminster, Maryland, WJLA-TV reported.

In Hockessin, Delaware, at least one residence had the roof ripped off, 6ABC-TV reported.

“We saw the clouds coming and could hear a rumbling in the distance,” said Tom Tomovich, whose home was damaged. “We went into the house and we were on the first floor, and before we could blink an eye the winds just came right through the back of our house.”

___

Collins reported from Columbia, South Carolina. Associated Press writer Darlene Superville in Washington and AP Airlines Writer David Koenig contributed to this report.

“Skiplagging” is a money hack for travelers looking to save on airline tickets — but travel experts warn the practice comes with big risks.

Also known as “hidden city ticketing,” the practice is a way to leverage a quirk in airfare pricing.

Here’s the basic concept: Rather than fly nonstop to a desired city, a passenger would instead buy a multi-leg flight with a connection in their desired city. The traveler would disembark at the layover stop instead of flying the final leg.

Sally French, a travel expert at NerdWallet, said travelers would be “surprised” to learn how often skiplagging is cheaper for fliers than buying a direct flight to their end destination.

More from Personal Finance:
How you can save $500 or more on a flight to Europe this year
Canceled or delayed flight? What to know about your rights
U.S. passport delays may be months long

However, the practice also peeves airlines. In fact, many prohibit it — with a varying degree of consequences if a passenger is caught.

Skiplagging has “been around for a while,” said David Slotnick, senior aviation business reporter at The Points Guy.

However, “it’s controversial,” he said.

“I think it reveals a bizarre and counterintuitive way the airline-pricing model works,” Slotnick said. “But in terms of being able to take advantage of that to save money, it’s a super big risk and you probably shouldn’t do it unless you fully understand what you’re doing.”

Consequences include canceled flights, airline bans

It has become easier to engage in the practice due to online travel bookings, including via sites like Skiplagged.com that specialize in such bookings, French said.

Skiplagged.com has a series of frequently asked questions that speak to some of the associated risks, and advice for working around them.

“This is perfectly legal and the savings can be significant, but there are some things to be aware of,” the company said in one FAQ response, adding: “You might upset the airline, so don’t do this often.”

The risks were illustrated earlier this month when a teenager tried using the practice. The teen was scheduled to fly from Gainesville, Florida, to New York, with a stop in Charlotte, North Carolina; instead of disembarking in New York, the passenger planned to do so in Charlotte.

The carrier, American Airlines, reportedly discovered the traveler’s intent and canceled their ticket.

In addition to getting a flight canceled — and then having to re-book last-minute, likely erasing any initial cost savings — travelers could get banned from an airline’s frequent-flier program and lose all its accompanying perks, Slotnick said.

Carriers may also ban travelers from flying that airline in the future, he said. They also can theoretically take a traveler to court for damages.

When booking a flight, travelers agree to airlines’ contracts, or conditions of carriage. These contracts set rules for passengers, and often forbid skiplagging (though generally don’t use that specific term), experts said.

American Airlines’ contract, for example, states: “Your ticket is valid only when travel is to/from the cities on your ticket and in your trip record.”

More explicitly, it also prohibits reservations “made to exploit or circumvent fare and ticket rules,” examples of which include: “Purchasing a ticket without intending to fly all flights to gain lower fares (hidden city ticketing).”

United Airline and Orbitz filed a lawsuit against Skiplagged.com’s founder in 2014, but a judge dismissed the case the following year.

Carriers generally don’t like the practice because, for one thing, they can lose revenue. They may have been able to sell an empty seat to another passenger, or perhaps sell a more expensive nonstop ticket to the skiplagging passenger, for example.

Additionally, when travelers deviate from what’s expected it messes with airlines’ internal planning, flight scheduling and data science, for example, Slotnick said.

“They’re not angry that people save $20 on a flight,” he said. “It’s more the predictability in the data set.”

Skiplagging only exists “as a result of airlines’ own pricing schemes,” Dan Gellert, chief operating officer of Skipplagged.com, said in an e-mail.

“Airlines have monopolies on certain hub airports and their pricing reflects that. Thousands of people book Skiplagging or hidden city tickets every day and we generally hear of no issues from any of them,” Gellert said.

There are other risks, inconveniences to skiplagging

Travelers who use hidden city ticketing may be exposed to additional inconveniences. For example, you can’t check your bags, which will go onward to the final destination instead of the connecting city, French said.

Bringing a bag on board as a carry-on is also a gamble: If a plane’s overhead space is full by the time you board, you may be forced to check your bag, French added.

Passengers would also need to book separate one-way tickets. That’s because an airline would likely cancel a return ticket if you were a no-show for any leg of your flight, experts said.

Additionally, flight schedules are “very unpredictable,” French said. Airlines may opt to reroute your flight through a different city — meaning your layover destination (where you’d intended to go) could change.

“There are plenty of [other] ways to find good deals on flights,” especially for travelers willing to be flexible on trip timing and location, French said. Alternatives include using services like Google Explore and Going, which allow consumers to set flight alerts, she said.

Lawmakers approved the bill, called the Securing Growth and Robust Leadership in American Aviation Act, which included a provision to raise the retirement age for pilots from 65 to 67 amid a major pilot shortage, in a 351-69 vote.

The effort to raise the retirement age was met with some opposition within the chamber from lawmakers who thought the move could endanger pilot standards and passenger safety. But the Rules Committee blocked an amendment that would have stopped the change.

“America has always been the gold standard in aviation, and this bill ensures that we remain the world leader,” House Transportation Committee Chairman Sam Graves, R-Mo., said in a statement.

Read more at NBCNews.com.

Flight 3316 to Maui was diverted to Oakland, California, Monday afternoon after photographs were sent via Apple’s “AirDrop” feature to a flight attendant on board “suggesting a bomb was contained within the aircraft,” the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office said. 

Once the plane landed, it was evacuated by Oakland Airport Operations, the Transportation Security Administration and Airport Police Services, authorities said.

For more on this story, go to NBC News.

The plane was carrying 163 passengers and 12 crew members on Thursday when it “encountered unexpected severe turbulence approximately five hours into the flight,” said a statement from the airline.

“The plane just dropped,” passenger Sultan Baskonyali told ABC News. “We weren’t prepared.”

She described one man going upward, hitting his head on the ceiling and dropping back down.

Airport medics assessed and released three injured passengers when the flight landed in Sydney, the airline said. One passenger and three flight attendants were referred to hospitals for evaluation. The flights attendants have since been released, the airline said Monday, but added that it was waiting to hear from the passenger.

Airlines

UNITED AIRLINES Jun 30, 2023

Passengers were stuck because United Airlines canceled their flights. The CEO took a private plane

news Jun 23, 2023

Southwest Airlines Reaches Tentative Agreement With Mechanics' Union

“I haven’t heard from the airline at all even though both my children who were on the flight sustained minor injuries,” another passenger, Tara Goodall, told The Associated Press Monday.

They were returning home to Sydney after visiting Hawaii — the first overseas trip for her two sons. It was difficult, she said in text messages, “seeing your kids being thrown around the plane cabin” and being unable to make them feel safe.

She said she wasn’t yet ready to discuss the turbulence in more detail because she was still upset and emotional about it.

“Our immediate priority is to continue to care for our passengers and crew affected by this turbulence events, and we thank Sydney airport first responders for their swift assistance,” the airline said.

Last year, severe turbulence injured 25 people on board a Hawaiian Airlines flight. Four passengers and two crew members were seriously hurt. The plane sustained minor damage.

The captain of the Dec. 18 flight from Phoenix to Honolulu told investigators that conditions were smooth with clear skies when a cloud shot up in front of the plane, and that there was no time to change course, according to a report by the National Transportation Safety Board.

Hawaiian Airlines Chief Operating Officer Jon Snook said at the time that such turbulence is unusual, noting that the airline had not experienced anything like it in recent history. The sign to fasten seat belts was on at the time, though some of the people injured were not wearing them, he said.

It happened about 40 minutes before landing in Honolulu, according to the NTSB report.

The number of flight delays and cancellations declined from the spikes recorded earlier in the week, according to data compiled by tracking service FlightAware. As of 4:45 p.m. EST, there had been 710 flight cancellations and more than 23,600 delayed flights Saturday. During the June 28-30 period, an average of 1,751 flights were canceled and more then 32,600 flights delayed, according to the FlightAware data.

The cancellation rate worked out to about 1% in the U.S. as of Saturday afternoon, according to Flightradar24, another tracking service. Flightradar24 spokesperson Ian Petchenik described Saturday’s conditions as “smooth sailing” in an email to The Associated Press, while adding inclement weather could cause problems at East Coast airports later in the day.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration also advised travelers that bad weather conditions on the East Coast could affect flights later Saturday.

Heading into Saturday, one of the biggest concerns had been whether 5G signals would interfere with aircraft equipment, especially devices using radio waves to measure distance above the ground that are critical when planes land in low visibility.

Predictions that interference would cause massive flight groundings failed to come true last year, when telecom companies began rolling out the new service. They then agreed to limit the power of the signals around busy airports, giving airlines an extra year to upgrade their planes.

The leader of the nation’s largest pilots’ union said crews will be able to handle the impact of 5G, but he criticized the way the wireless licenses were granted, saying it had added unnecessary risk to aviation.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently told airlines that flights could be disrupted because a small portion of the nation’s fleet has not been upgraded to protect against radio interference.

But the worst fears about 5G hadn’t cropped up by mid-afternoon Saturday, prompting Transportation Department spokesperson Kerry Arndt to describe flight travel as being at “near-normal” levels. But Arrndt also stressed that the Federal Aviation Administration is “working very closely with airlines to monitor summer pop-up storms, wildfire smoke, and any 5G issues.”

Most of the major U.S. airlines had made the changes needed to adapt to 5G. American, Southwest, Alaska, Frontier and United say all of their planes have height-measuring devices, called radio altimeters, that are protected against 5G interference.

The big exception is Delta Air Lines. Delta says it has 190 planes, including most of its smaller ones, that still lack upgraded altimeters because its supplier has been unable to provide them fast enough.

The airline does not expect to cancel any flights because of the issue, Delta said Friday. The airline plans to route the 190 planes carefully to limit the risk of canceling flights or forcing planes to divert away from airports where visibility is low because of fog or low clouds. FlightAware listed nine Delta flight cancellations Saturday. None of them were tied to 5G issues, according to the airline.

The Delta planes that have not been retrofitted include several models of Airbus jets: all of its A220s, most of its A319s and A320s and some of its A321s. The airline’s Boeing jets have upgraded altimeters, as do all Delta Connection planes, which are operated by Endeavor Air, Republic Airways and SkyWest Airlines, according to the airline.

JetBlue did not respond to requests for comment but told The Wall Street Journal it expected to retrofit 17 smaller Airbus jets by October, with possible “limited impact” some days in Boston.

Wireless carriers including Verizon and AT&T use a part of the radio spectrum called C-Band, which is close to frequencies used by radio altimeters, for their new 5G service. The Federal Communications Commission granted them licenses for the C-Band spectrum and dismissed any risk of interference, saying there was ample buffer between C-Band and altimeter frequencies.

When the Federal Aviation Administration sided with airlines and objected, the wireless companies pushed back the rollout of their new service. In a compromise brokered by the Biden administration, the wireless carriers then agreed not to power up 5G signals near about 50 busy airports. That postponement ends Saturday.

AT&T declined to comment. Verizon did not immediately respond to a question about its plans.

Buttigieg reminded the head of trade group Airlines for America about the deadline in a letter last week, warning that only planes with retrofitted altimeters would be allowed to land under low-visibility conditions. He said more than 80% of the U.S. fleet had been retrofitted, but a significant number of planes, including many operated by foreign airlines, have not been upgraded.

“This means on bad-weather, low-visibility days in particular, there could be increased delays and cancellations,” Buttigieg wrote. He said airlines with planes awaiting retrofitting should adjust their schedules to avoid stranding passengers.

Airlines say the FAA was slow to approve standards for upgrading the radio altimeters and supply-chain problems have made it difficult for manufacturers to produce enough of the devices. Nicholas Calio, head of the Airlines for America, complained about a rush to modify planes “amid pressure from the telecommunications companies.”

Jason Ambrosi, a Delta pilot and president of the Air Line Pilots Association, accused the FCC of granting 5G licenses without consulting aviation interests, which he said “has left the safest aviation system in the world at increased risk.” But, he said, “Ultimately, we will be able to address the impacts of 5G.”

“Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home,” Kirby said in a statement issued by the airline. “I sincerely apologize to our customers and our team members who have been working around-the-clock for several days — often through severe weather — to take care of our customers.”

Kirby concluded by promising “to better demonstrate my respect for the dedication of our team members and the loyalty of our customers.”

Kirby caught the private flight from Teterboro, New Jersey, to Denver on Wednesday, when United canceled 750 flights — one-fourth of its schedule for the day. That figure does not include flights on United Express.

Airlines

airlines Jun 29, 2023

Travelers endure another day of airport agony. One airline has by far the most cancellations

air travel Jun 26, 2023

Was your flight canceled amid bad weather? What you need to know about rebooking, refunds and more

United has canceled nearly 3,000 flights this week, with the largest number at its Newark Liberty International Airport hub, which was hit by thunderstorms for much of the week.

Kirby blamed disruptions in Newark last weekend on a shortage of Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers. As United continued to struggle throughout the week, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose department includes the administration, said on Twitter that airlines had recovered from the storms “with the exception of United.”

Flight delays and cancellations continued to mar thousands of Fourth of July travelers on Friday, with United Airlines passengers bearing the brunt of the problems.

The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen 17.7 million people from June 29 through July 5, peaking on Friday at more than 2.8 million people. That would be an single-day record for daily screenings and one of the clearest signs yet of air travel’s strong recovery from the Covid pandemic.

More than 4,800 U.S. flights were delayed on Friday, though United had more delays than competitors.

By 5 p.m. on Friday, the carrier had canceled more than 230 mainline flights, 8% of its operation, while more than 790 flights, or more than quarter of its schedule, were delayed, according to flight-tracker FlightAware.

That was still far fewer than its disruptions on Thursday and a notable improvement from last weekend when a slew of thunderstorms along the East Coast at some of the country’s most congested airports kicked off the chaos. Some airline executives blamed the Federal Aviation Administration’s shortfall of air traffic controllers for exacerbating the problems for their customers.

Customers throughout the week sprawled out on airport floors, waiting for hours for flight information or new schedules, with seats on other flights, or other airlines scarce. They also faced long lines for customer service and lost bags.

Even United Airlines’ CEO couldn’t get a seat out of the New York area. On Wednesday, Scott Kirby took a private jet from New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport to Denver, Colorado.

A spokeswoman for the airline told CNBC that United did not pay for his flight. Kirby apologized to staff and travelers on Friday for taking the private jet when so many others were stranded.

“Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home,” Kirby said in a statement to CNBC. “I sincerely apologize to our customers and our team members who have been working around-the-clock for several days — often through severe weather — to take care of our customers.

“Watching our team firsthand with our customers at four different airports and during countless meetings this week, it’s clear to me they represent the best of United, and I regret that I have distracted from their professionalism,” he continued. “I promise to better demonstrate my respect for the dedication of our team members and the loyalty of our customers.”

United said on Friday afternoon that its performance was improving into the holiday weekend. The airline has been offering waivers to travelers affected so they can rebook their trips without paying fare differences.

But it also cautioned that: “Storms in Denver, Chicago and the East Coast will continue to be a challenge, but most of today’s cancellations were made in advance to give customers time to adjust.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Friday called United out for the challenges over the past week, saying the airline’s disruptions were “elevated but moving in the right direction.”

Airlines are under political and public pressure to run reliably after their overambitious schedules and staffing shortages worsened routine challenges like bad weather. The struggles come as travel demand bounces back from pandemic lows.

More storms and challenges like wildfire smoke from Canada are likely to plague airlines in the days ahead, though the worst of the disruptions this week have mostly subsided. (Of course, if your flight is canceled or delayed, here’s what airlines owe you.)

More than 42,000 flights operated by U.S. airlines were delayed from Saturday through Thursday, and more than 7,900 were scrubbed altogether, according to flight-tracker site FlightAware. More than 5% of U.S. schedules were canceled, about four times higher than the cancellation rate so far this year.

Over that six-period period, half of United’s mainline flights arrived late, amounting to average delays of 106 minutes, according to FlightAware data. Another 19% of its schedule was canceled.

Union leaders blamed United for some of the problems, which stranded crews along with passengers during the disruptions. Flight disruptions often snowball because crews and aircraft are out of position and long delays can have them run into federally-mandated work limits.

United has been offering flight attendants triple pay to pick up shifts over the peak holiday period.

“United management’s failure to properly staff crew schedulers, the flight attendant support team and more has exacerbated these operational issues and left passengers and Flight Attendants waiting for answers for hours at a time,” Ken Diaz, president of the United chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants, said in a statement Thursday. “The airline actually ‘lost’ crews in the system for days on end because there was such a significant breakdown in running the operation.”

Garth Thompson, a United captain and chairman of the United chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association union, accused the company of not investing in the operation.

“Summer flying can be challenging, but this summer will be unnecessarily memorable,” he said. “To those caught up in management’s unforced errors, I’m truly sorry.”

Both unions are engaged in contract negotiations with the company and are seeking compensation and scheduling improvements.

United CEO Kirby on Monday wrote to staff that some of the issues last weekend stemmed from air traffic controller understaffing, and said that “the FAA frankly failed us” when it slashed arrival and departure rates at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, a major United hub.

The FAA had warned about staffing shortages in the New York City area earlier this year, and some airlines agreed to reduce capacity to avoid overloading the system.

“It led to massive delays, cancellations, diversions, as well as crews and aircraft out of position,” Kirby wrote in a staff note, which was seen by CNBC. “And that put everyone behind the eight ball when weather actually did hit on Sunday and was further compounded by FAA staffing shortages Sunday evening.”

JetBlue also blamed the FAA for similar issues.

“We are working with the FAA to better understand what led to the significant and unexpected ATC restrictions this week that affected thousands of flights across carriers,” JetBlue’s COO, Joanna Geraghty, said in a memo to employees Wednesday. “The severity and lengthy duration of the latest programs were worse than we have seen in the past with similar weather and this has left tens of thousands of our Customers inconvenienced and, in many cases, blaming JetBlue for a situation outside of our control.”

This story uses functionality that may not work in our app. Click here to open the story in your web browser.

United vowed to get back on track over the July 4 holiday weekend, when the number of air travelers could set a pandemic-era record.

Hundreds of thousands of people have had travel plans thrown in the air after a wave of storms raked the Northeast over the past few days and frustrations are running high.

Airports in Chicago, Denver and Newark, New Jersey — all hubs for United — were seeing the most delays on Thursday, according to FlightAware.

By early evening on the East Coast, United had canceled more than 400 flights, the bulk of the 600-plus cancellations toted up by FlightAware. The Chicago carrier was poised to lead all U.S. airlines in cancellations for a sixth straight day.

United CEO Scott Kirby has blamed the airline’s struggles in Newark on a shortage of air traffic controllers in the New York City area. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg pushed back against the criticism while conceding that a key Federal Aviation Administration facility in New York is severely understaffed.

“United Airlines has some internal issues they need to work through. They have really been struggling this week, even relative to other U.S. airlines,” Buttigieg told CNN. “But where we do agree is that there need to be more resources for air traffic control.”

The FAA plans to hire 3,300 controllers over two years, but they won’t be ready to help this summer, much less this weekend.

The leader of United’s union pilots — who are locked in difficult contract negotiations — blamed management for the disruptions, saying the company failed to upgrade a crew-scheduling system.

“While Scott Kirby attempts to deflect blame on the FAA, weather and everything in between, further flight delays are a direct result of poor planning by United Airlines executives,” Garth Thompson said.

United is offering triple pay to flight attendants who are scheduled off this weekend but agree to pick up extra flights, according to their union. The Association of Flight Attendants also said crews calling in for assignments have been put on hold for three hours or longer.

“The airline actually ‘lost’ crews in the system for days on end because there was such a significant breakdown in running the operation,” said Ken Diaz, president of the flight attendants’ group at United. He said the company scheduled summer flights “to the max” even knowing about air traffic control limits in the Northeast.

United said it was getting a handle on its problems.

“We’re seeing continued meaningful improvement today after an overnight effort to further repair schedules and match separated crews with aircraft,” the airline said in a midday statement. “As the recovery progresses, delays and cancellations will continue to decline as we head into what we expect to be a very busy holiday weekend.”

Because planes are packed for the summer, it is hard for airlines to rebook customers when flights are canceled – there aren’t many empty seats.

Ariana Duran of Orlando, Florida, said JetBlue rebooked her for seven days later when her flight home from Newark was canceled this week. So she got creative.

Her boyfriend spotted a $1,200 seat on another airline, but it was gone before they could buy it. She looked into Amtrak. Duran, who does marketing for an insurance company, wound up paying about $640 for a one-way ticket to Orlando — with a stop in the Florida Keys — on United Express and Silver Airways.

Duran didn’t care when they told her it would be a very small plane.

“Just put me on a boat at this point,” she said.

Sonia Hendrix, who runs a public-relations firm in New York, took four days to get home from a business trip to Colorado. She was stranded one night in Atlanta and two in Orlando, when connecting flights were canceled. She woke up some mornings not knowing where she was.

Hendrix said a Delta agent threatened to cancel her reservation when she complained about being offered only a $50 voucher for her trip troubles. On the other hand, her pilot, “Captain Dan,” waited in the airport and helped passengers after the flight was canceled.

“This is not all Delta’s fault. Their pilots and flight crews were working very hard,” she said. “I blame the FAA. I blame Buttigieg for sitting on his hands” and not staffing up air traffic control centers sooner.

Hendrix said she lost working time and spent $700 out of pocket. She is so worried it could happen again that she is reconsidering a business trip next month to Los Angeles.

The FAA said Thursday would be the busiest day of the holiday stretch by number of flights. The Transportation Security Administration said it expected to screen the most travelers on Friday — a predicted 2.82 million people.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms may arrive later Thursday in the Northeast, and storms were also forecast farther south along the East Coast through Saturday. The West is under threat of unstable weather for the next several days.

Along with big crowds and storms, a technology issue could add to travelers’ difficulties. Federal officials say some airline planes may be unable to fly in bad weather starting Saturday because of possible interference from new 5G wireless service.

American, United, Southwest, Alaska and Frontier say all their planes have been retrofitted with new radio altimeters — those are devices that measure the plane’s height above the ground — and they do not expect disruptions due to 5G service.

However, Delta Air Lines has about 190 planes in its fleet of more than 900 that have not been updated because it can’t get enough altimeters from its supplier. Delta says it will schedule those planes to avoid landing in poor visibility while it works to upgrade them through the summer.

The issue affects several types of single-aisle planes that Delta uses on routes within the United States, including all its Airbus A220s and most of its Airbus A319 and A320 jets.

Smaller airlines that operate regional flights could also be affected by the radio interference issue, as could flights operated to the United States by foreign carriers.

By early evening in the East, about 5,300 flights had been delayed, down from an average of 8,000 a day over the first three days of the week.

By early evening on the East Coast, nearly 5,800 U.S. flights had been delayed and 1,000 more were canceled, according to FlightAware.

United Airlines, which depends on the airport in Newark, New Jersey, canceled the most flights among U.S. airlines for a fifth straight day.

“We’re beginning to see improvement across our operation,” United said in a statement Wednesday night. “As our operation improves in the days ahead, we will be on track to restore our operation for the holiday weekend.”

The worst disruptions continued to be along the East Coast, which has been pummeled by thunderstorms this week. The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily held up Boston-bound flights on Wednesday. It stopped flights to all three major airports in the New York City area and two near Washington, D.C., at times Tuesday.

Huge crowds, bad weather, inability of some airline crews to reach their scheduling offices — even a Delta jet that made a belly landing in Charlotte, North Carolina — all contributed to the mess.

And it could be just the storm before the storm: The FAA predicted that Thursday would be the heaviest travel day over the July 4 holiday period. On top of that, some airline planes may be unable to fly in bad weather starting this weekend because of possible interference with 5G wireless service.

Travel has picked up steadily every year since bottoming out during the pandemic. For the past week, about 2.6 million people a day on average have been flying in the United States, about 2% more than in the same period during pre-pandemic 2019, according to Transportation Security Administration figures.

The number of air travelers could set a pandemic-era record over the holiday weekend. The FAA expects Thursday to be the busiest, with more than 52,500 total flights.

People whose travel plans were disrupted took to social media to vent against the airlines. Some swore they would never fly again on whichever airline had done them wrong.

Tia Hudson was back at Newark Liberty International Airport for the fourth straight day, trying to catch a United Airlines flight home to Louisiana.

“My flight has been canceled like five times now. I slept at the airport two nights, I booked two hotels, I spent over $700 since I’ve been here and they said they’re not going to reimburse me because it’s weather-related,” she said. “It’s not weather-related. It’s a shortage of pilots and attendants.”

More Travel Coverage:

air travel Jun 26, 2023

Was your flight canceled amid bad weather? What you need to know about rebooking, refunds and more

News4 Responds Aug 29, 2022

Here's What to Do If Your Flight Is Canceled

Hudson missed her mother’s wedding and caused her mother to skip her own honeymoon to pick up Tia at the airport near Dallas – only for the flight to be canceled.

On top of that, Hudson’s bags were lost.

“I just want to get away from this airport, but they say nobody is leaving until Saturday,” she said.

At Logan Airport in Boston, pharmaceutical company manager Rui Loureiro had to scrap plans to spend the rest of the week meeting clients on the West Coast when his flight to San Francisco was canceled. United told him the soonest he could get on another flight was Friday, and didn’t offer to pay for a hotel room. He plans to fly home to Portugal instead – or at least give it a try.

“I am a little bit stressed, disappointed,” Loureiro said. “People were waiting for me. We had things arranged to do. Now I have to go back and rebook everything and come again another time.”

By early Wednesday evening, Chicago-based United had canceled more than 550 flights — one-fifth of its schedule — and 1,200 others were late. The airline vowed to reduce cancellations — and added it reduced the backlog of stranded bags in Newark by 30% since Tuesday. New York-based JetBlue canceled nearly one in 10 flights.

If large numbers of passengers are stranded or delayed this weekend, expect federal officials and the airlines to blame each other for the mess.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose department includes the FAA, has been beating up on the airlines for more than a year. He has accused them of failing to live up to reasonable standards of customer service and suggested that they are scheduling more flights than they can handle.

The airlines are punching back.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby blamed a shortage of federal air traffic controllers for massive disruptions last weekend at its Newark hub.

“We estimate that over 150,000 customers on United alone were impacted this weekend because of FAA staffing issues and their ability to manage traffic,” Kirby wrote in a memo to employees on Monday night.

The Association of Flight Attendants, which represents United’s cabin crews, said United was contributing to the situation. The union said employees were waiting three hours or longer when calling a crew-scheduling center for assignments because of “limited telephone lines and personnel.”

However, the FAA signaled earlier this year that it could struggle to keep flights moving in New York, the busiest airspace in the nation. Facing a severe shortage of air traffic controllers at a key facility on Long Island, the FAA persuaded airlines to trim their summer schedules to avoid overloading the system.

Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, where American and Southwest are based, took the airlines’ side in a series of tweets about delays at the New York City area’s three big airports.

“Staffing at FAA’s air traffic facilities in NY is at 54%,” Cruz tweeted. “Yet (the Transportation Department) is blaming weather for delays. Nonsense.”

A Transportation Department spokesperson said the agency is working with airlines to fix things, but the combination of high traffic and bad weather reduces the rate at which planes can take off and land safely, leading to delays and canceled flights.

The FAA is training about 3,000 new air traffic controllers, but most of them won’t be ready anytime soon. Last week, the Transportation Department’s inspector general said in a report that the FAA has made only “limited efforts” to adequately staff critical air traffic control centers and lacks a plan to tackle the problem.

Last week, Buttigieg issued a new warning to airlines, telling them that planes that aren’t outfitted with new radio altimeters — devices that measure the height of a plane above the ground — won’t be allowed to operate in limited visibility starting this Saturday because of potential interference from new 5G wireless service.

American, United, Southwest, Alaska and Frontier say all of their planes have been retrofitted, but Delta Air Lines still has about 190 planes waiting to be updated because its supplier doesn’t have enough altimeters. Delta said it will schedule those planes to avoid landing where the weather might be bad to limit disruptions.

Smaller airlines that operate regional flights could also be affected by the radio interference issue, as could flights operated to the United States by foreign carriers.

Wyatte Grantham-Philips in Washington, D.C., contributed. Koenig reported from Dallas.

But airlines can play a role too, according to new research from Qantas and the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre.

The research is part of Qantas’ Project Sunrise program, which plans to link Sydney to New York City and London via non-stop flights in 2025.

Qantas says that while it has the capability to fly the 20-hour flights, it’s studying ways — from lighting schedules to eating spicy foods — to make the journey less arduous for passengers and crew.

The research

According to preliminary results released in mid-June, researchers used volunteer passengers on three test flights to analyze ways to reduce jet lag, including:

• Adjusting cabin lighting and mealtime schedules
• Providing special food and beverage menus that included chili, chocolate and ingredients known to produce sleep-inducing tryptophan
• Performing onboard stretches and exercises

Volunteers were monitored using wearable tech devices during the flight, and their reaction times were measured through online tests, according to the press release. They also kept a daily health log before, during and for two weeks after test flights, it said.   

The report concluded that, compared with other passengers, the volunteers “experienced less severe jet lag (self-reported), better sleep quality inflight [and] better cognitive performance in the two days after flight.”

“Light exposure is critical for reducing jetlag,” said Svetlana Postnova, who studies sleep-wake cycles and circadian rhythms at the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre.

The flight departed New York City at 9 p.m., and the researchers kept the lights on for an additional six hours, she told CNBC.

Lights were turned off around 3 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, and the cabin stayed dark for 11 hours, before being turned back on for the final two hours of the flight, she said.

That was done “to nudge the body clocks towards the destination time zone,” she said.

Serving lunch at night

Meals were aligned with the lighting, said Postnova, noting they were served after takeoff, before the lights were turned off and before arriving.

But the initial meal wasn’t dinner — it was lunch, said Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce.

“Night flights usually start with dinner and then lights off. For this flight, we started with lunch and kept the lights on for the first six hours, to match the time of day at our destination. It means you start reducing the jetlag straight away,” he said in a statement after the first test flight was conducted.

Studies on the brightness and color tone of cabin lighting are planned for later this year, and more research on departure and arrival times and seasonal differences is needed, according to Qantas and the University of Sydney.

Findings from the test flights have not been published, but Peter Cistulli, professor of sleep medicine at the University of Sydney, called the early results “promising.”

For now, Postnova said, travelers shouldn’t wait until they land to combat jet lag — rather, they should start the process as soon as their flight departs.

An onboard ‘wellbeing zone’

The jet lag research is being conducted while Qantas awaits 12 Airbus 350 aircraft it ordered in May 2022. Delivery is expected to begin in late 2025, with the New York-Sydney route starting shortly thereafter, according to the press release.

Joyce said the new non-stop flights will reduce travel times between New York and London to Sydney by some three hours.

The new Airbus fleet will also have an onboard “Wellbeing Zone” where passengers can stretch and perform simple exercises.

“Our A350s will have about 100 fewer seats than most of our competitors, which gives us room for more space in all classes as well as a Wellbeing Zone for Premium Economy and Economy passengers to stretch,” Joyce said.

As for what passengers do on the flights, which will likely be the longest commercial flights in the world, Joyce said: “People can choose how they spend their time but we’ll make recommendations based on science.”

Flight 209 normally leaves Edinburgh Airport at 10:35 a.m. SCT on a 7 1/2-hour journey to John F. Kennedy International Airport but it never got off the ground Friday.

The pilot, only identified as a 61-year-old man, was arrested at about 10 a.m. local time, police said.

He was booked on suspicion of violating the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, which bars pilots and other transport operators from on-the-job impairment.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

Her alarm goes off at 3:30 am, reminding the 21-year-old that she has less than an hour to start driving to Charleston International Airport — otherwise, she’ll miss her flight to the office. 

Since early June, Celentano has commuted by plane once a week to her summer internship at Ogilvy Health in Parsippany, New Jersey, from her parent’s house in Charleston, South Carolina.

Celentano didn’t want to join the legions of summer interns fighting for affordable housing in and around New York City. And her job only requires her to be in the office — about a 45-minute drive from downtown Manhattan — once, sometimes twice, per week.

For Celentano, commuting four-plus hours by plane weekly was a much easier pill to swallow than paying New York rent for three months on an intern’s salary.

“I didn’t think twice about it,” Celentano, a rising senior at the University of Virginia, tells CNBC Make It.

Super-commuting, which the Census Bureau loosely defines as traveling “long distances” by air, rail, car or bus to work — usually 90 minutes or more each way — has become more popular since the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Companies adopted hybrid work models, and people fled major cities.

Even some college students are on board. “I really wanted to prioritize my happiness and well-being this summer, and to do that, I wanted to mostly be in Charleston with my family,” says Celentano.

The intern’s super-commuting routine helps her save thousands of dollars, too. Here’s how.

A hassle worth $2,000 in savings

When Celentano first received her internship offer in the spring, she compared the cost of renting an apartment in Parsippany or New York for the summer, versus living with her parents and taking a weekly round-trip budget flight.

The average apartment rent in Parsippany is about $1,730 per month for a studio, and closer to $3,500 in New York, according to data from Apartments.com and Renthop. That doesn’t include utilities, groceries, gas and other expenses Celentano would need to cover for the summer. She declined to share how much she earns at her internship.

All in all, Celentano estimates she would spend a minimum of $4,250 to live and work near Ogilvy Health’s office between June and August, if she was lucky enough to find an apartment for less than $1,000 per month.

That seemed ridiculous: Her job only required her to be in the office on Wednesdays, plus occasional one-off events like an intern orientation.

In contrast, Celentano’s super-commute costs her about $225 per week, including a round-trip flight from Charleston to Newark Liberty International Airport, Ubers between the airport and her office, and food.

Every Wednesday at 6 a.m., she boards a $27 departing flight, according to receipts reviewed by CNBC Make It. Her return flight at 9 p.m. costs about $60. She packs breakfast and dinner in her work bag to save money.

Celentano’s internship is 10 weeks long. She’ll spend about $2,250, saving at least $2,000 this summer — or $200 per week — she estimates.

Super-commuting instead of moving for ‘healthier work-life balance’

The hardest part of Celentano’s super-commute is getting home around 11 p.m. She works remotely on Thursdays and can sleep in until at least 8 a.m., easing the sting of her long travel days. 

Two weeks in, Celentano says her commute cuts out “a lot of the stress” she might otherwise experience, living far from her family and friends. She posted a TikTok video about it on her first day of work. Hours later, it had more than 500,000 views.

She’s posted several follow-up videos on TikTok about her super-commuting routine, explaining her bosses’ responses — they don’t mind, she says — and how she kills time in the airport by editing vlogs for her YouTube channel.

Celentano’s super-commute isn’t even a rare occurrence in her internship program, she adds: Some of her peers travel from Boston or Philadelphia, and one even flies in from Atlanta.

“Obviously, moving to a new city can be exciting, and it’s great to push yourself outside of your comfort zone, but that kind of change is not what I was craving in my life right now,” says Celentano. “I’m grateful to have found an employer that supports that. Ironically, having a longer commute has helped me have a healthier work-life balance.”

DON’T MISS: Want to be smarter and more successful with your money, work & life? Sign up for our new newsletter!

Get CNBC’s free Warren Buffett Guide to Investing, which distills the billionaire’s No. 1 best piece of advice for regular investors, do’s and don’ts, and three key investing principles into a clear and simple guidebook.

Check out:

Barack Obama shares his No. 1 piece of career advice for Gen Z: ‘Just learn how to get stuff done’

The top 3 cities for new grads: ‘I can afford the house I want and the life I want’

4 common intern mistakes that hurt your chance at a return offer, according to a Glassdoor expert

Early this month, Hainan Airlines issued guidelines to its cabin crew stating that female flight attendants would be immediately grounded if their weight exceeded the “standard limit” by 10%, the state newspaper Global Times reported.

The guidelines included a formula for calculating that limit based on height and said flight attendants who were suspended would be put on a company-supervised “weight reduction plan.”

The airline, which is one of the biggest in China, also emphasized the importance of female flight attendants’ appearance for the company’s image, the report added.

Hainan Airlines did not respond to requests for comment.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com