(WXYZ) — The holiday weekend means thousands of Michiganders will be taking to the skies. Many are worried airline problems across the country could affect them.
Fortunately, the human traffic was moving efficiently through Detroit metropolitan airport Friday afternoon. Claudia Couch was on her way to Italy. She said she heard about the problems airlines have had in recent days and weeks.
She said the worker shortages she had heard about affected her plans.
“Absolutely, it concerned me. I heard about all the delays and all the cancellations. So, we made sure we packed early and we made sure we have all our ducks in a row and we’re ready to go,” Couch explained.
It was the same story for Laquriscia Mitchell and her two kids who were traveling to Atlanta. They were taking it all in stride.
“We know that some of the flights might get delayed, so I took today off. And hey, if it gets delayed, we just go back home,” Mitchell said.
However, for people like Bruce Parkinson and his family, thing did not go smoothly.
“We don’t know if we have a flight at the moment or not. Or if it’s been canceled, if it’s been changed, what’s going on with it entirely,” Parkinson explained.
He said he and his family did everything they were supposed to do.
“It’s frustrating because we’re trying to arrange things, plan things out properly and then it’s like, oh, hey, here’s this thing you can’t really control in any way,” Parkinson explained.
He said he didn’t even have a customer representative he could speak with at the airport.
“Planning, you know, for your pilot’s schedule and whatnot is something that seems like they could think a little further out about,” Parkinson said.
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Robert W. Mann Jr., a former airline executive and president of R. W. Mann & Company, an independent airline industry analysis and consulting firm, agrees.
“These sorts of problems really should have been evident far before the summer was upon us,” Mann said.
Delta pilots picketed at DTW Thursday to send a message to management. Air Line Pilot’s Association, International sent 7 Action News a statement saying:
“What we are currently experiencing is a failure by the airlines to adequately plan for the increased travel demand, and to add insult to injury, they are trying to blame frontline aviation workers for their missteps. It is unfortunate that some continue to hide behind a made up ‘pilot shortage’ slogan to cover for their mismanagement and ongoing efforts to undermine safety. We cannot allow the airlines to mislead the public about their summer travel planning mistakes and the supply of pilots. This is important because this false narrative about pilot supply is being used to lobby dangerous changes to aviation safety regulations, while at the same justifying service reductions to smaller communities. This is not a labor-created problem; it’s an airline mismanagement issue.”
Delta issued it’s own statement regarding the pilots picketing saying:
“This informational exercise by some of our off-duty pilots will not disrupt our operation for our customers. Earlier this year, Delta, ALPA, and a representative from the National Mediation Board restarted our mediated contract negotiations that had been paused for almost two years due to the pandemic. Our goal remains to continue providing Delta pilots with an industry-leading overall contract with the best compensation based on pay, retirement, work rules, and profit sharing. We’re also committed to making sure the contract language supports our ability to run a world-class operation, maintain a strong balance sheet, and invest in our business for our customers and employees alike.”
Mann said the airlines have always known summers, especially holidays, mean peak demand and when limitations occur, they create a big problem.
“It would be laughable except it’s painful to me because I’ve been around this industry for 45 years and this is literally the saddest state I’ve seen it in that period of time,” Mann said.
He advised travelers to download apps and to show up to the airport with as much information as possible.
“You really want to understand what your alternatives might be if that flight were to be significantly delayed or even worse canceled,” Mann said.
