What’s Behind the Airlines Mess This Summer

Airports are busy and planes are crowded as the airline industry nears pre-pandemic travel numbers. In the U.S. over the weekend of June 24, security screening numbers were the highest since February 2020 and down just 8 percent compared to the same weekend in 2019.

But the return of travelers is proving more difficult for the industry than many thought it would be.

Thousands of flights have been preemptively removed from airline schedules this summer in the face of staffing and other issues. In the U.S., trade group Airlines for America (A4A) estimates that 15 percent of planned summer flights have already been cut from June through August. And the flights that do operate face a long list of potential issues, from crew availability to air traffic control and airport staffing, and weather.

In Europe, images of thousands of stranded bags at London's Heathrow airport, and security queues snaking out of the terminal at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport have gr