Airlines are struggling through one of the most severe and persistent mass-cancellation events of the past decade, reports The Wall Street Journal ( Jan. 8-9, 2022). Covid-19 infections surged too quickly for carriers to manage without upending holiday travel, wreaking havoc on already-stretched airline workforces. Now carriers are assessing how to better manage what could continue to be a difficult period, at least for the next few weeks.
Airlines have canceled more than 1,000 daily U.S. flights for 13 straight days, including over 2,600 on January 7, as another winter storm brought snow to Boston and New York. Flights scrubbed from Christmas Eve through Jan. 6 exceeded 24,000, roughly 7% of the number airlines had planned to fly.
For airlines, the upheaval of the pandemic is heading into a new phase. Unlike in early 2020, when terrified passengers canceled trips in droves, new variants dent but don’t decimate appetite for travel. But airlines are still rebuilding their operations. The twin challenges of rising numbers of employees calling out sick after being infected or exposed to Covid-19, and a series of severe winter storms that hit major hubs, created the perfect conditions for travel chaos.
The trouble spiraled as more workers became infected. Entire crews were testing positive–and when they’re out of the country, there’s no way to get that aircraft back. In December, airlines asked the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to consider halving its recommended 10-day isolation period for fully vaccinated people who come down with Covid-19, citing potential workforce shortages.
“What we learned is you might need a little more resources to fly that same schedule because of all the other things that are in play,” said American’s COO. Airlines operate under strict safety rules that can leave them little recourse but to cancel flights when they are short of staff in the right places. Pilots aren’t always trained to fly multiple aircraft types, for example. Regulations dictate how much rest crews must get between shifts. And employees such as flight dispatchers and mechanics can take on only so much extra work safely.
Recall that we open Chapter 15 (Short Term Scheduling) with the story of how Alaska Airlines deals with weather delays. This WSJ article makes a good complement, with the Covid addition.
Classroom discussion questions:
- What could operations managers have done to prepare for the current crisis?
- Which of the options for managing capacity noted in Supp. 7 apply to airlines today?