American Airlines file photo (KSL TV)
SALT LAKE CITY — American Airlines announced it is canceling some flights due to increased travel demands and a lack of staff.
Derek Walls, in Corporate Communications, said only one flight was affected at the Salt Lake International Airport.
“American proactively canceled one flight out of a total of 21 departures through mid-July,” said Walls. “Roughly 1% of our daily departures were canceled system-wide,” Walls continued.
In a statement to KSL Newsradio, Walls said unprecedented weather at American’s major hubs compounded the problems. He said the airline is quickly ramping up to “meet the surge in demand for air travel this summer.”
However, corporate officers decided to build what Walls called ‘additional resilience’ into its operations by adjusting some flight schedules.
Officials say specific flight cancellations were decided by which changes would impact the fewest number of customers. They chose markets that have multiple rebooking options for passengers.
The airline noted calling off some flights in advance and shifting passengers on to alternate flights will reduce the need to cancel flights at the last minute if weather or maintenance issues arise. Additionally, it will alleviate pressure on maintenance teams and allow for a larger pool of reserve pilots.