Overall airline capacity is down 15%, and not just because of the summer travel boom.
Tim Sheehy, President of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce, told Wisconsin’s Afternoon News hosts capacity is being crushed for a number of reasons. “Part of this is a challenge for the airlines,” Sheehy said “They need 4500 pilots a year for the next 10 years, they’re short baggage handlers and I saw that Delta added thousands of people to their call center to help with the services. Also, not all of it is airlines, some of it is government.”
On top of the worker shortage and the impact of inflation, more people are traveling this summer bringing numbers back to 2019’s tavel level. Sheehy believes a lot of the challenges impact international flights more so than domestic. “I think it’s really challenging going to and from the United States. In the U.S., again, cancellations are up but it’s not as dramatic as it is overseas.”
Flight capacity has even caused smaller markets to lose air service.