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0:49Now PlayingPilot shortages are causing flight delays, cancellations. Here's why. | USA TODAY
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0:49Now PlayingA shortage of pilots is resulting in thousands of flight delays and cancellations. Here's how Congress is trying to fix the issue.
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AJ Sick sat in the Denver airport for 11 hours.
The 27-year-old from the Chicago suburbs was stranded on a June afternoon after traveling to Colorado for a wedding. His flight was scheduled to leave on a Sunday at 3 p.m. but kept getting delayed − not from bad weather but because of a missing flight crew.
A gate agent announced later that evening that the flight was rescheduled for the next day.
Sick said the line for customer service stretched for more than three gates. He thought about renting a car to drive 12 hours home. None was available. He contemplated purchasing a car to drive home and resell later at the used car dealership where he works, but the news of the delayed flight came too late.
“We were clueless. We were misinformed in the beginning,” Sick said. “They assumed the flight crew was going to be on, but they all timed out.”
Sick is just one traveler who has experienced turmoil at airports this summer as the airline industry grapples with several problems leading to flight delays and cancellations:
Pandemic-era staffing reductions.
Bad weather that exacerbates staffing shortages.
A pilot shortage with nearly 15,000 pilots set to retire in the next five years, according to a 2022 study from the Regional Airline Association.
Air traffic controller shortage with 10% fewer fully certified air traffic controllers than a decade ago.
Increased demand as pre-pandemic travel levels return.
Lack of resources and support for prospective pilots.
These are problems that lawmakers in Congress are working to address as the two chambers debate the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization, legislation that authorizes funding for the agency through fiscal year 2028.
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