United Airlines is blaming the Federal Aviation Administration for the thousands of canceled flights over the weekend.
In an email sent to employees late Monday, United CEO Scott Kirby said the shortage of air traffic controllers was caused by the FAA, leaving the airline defenseless in dealing with the chaotic weather.
“The FAA frankly failed us,” he wrote.
Mr. Kirby told employees that when the FAA reduced arrival and departure rates in New York City on Saturday, the carrier couldn’t recover and canceled 9,000 flights over the weekend.
Heavy storms along the Northeast caused massive delays across the airline industry, continuing into the week.
A big issue is passenger reimbursement for canceled flights. Federal officials have pushed for airline companies to provide better lodging and food vouchers for stranded passengers. Yet many airlines feel they should not have to foot the bill if it was not their fault.
According to the Transportation Department, the FAA is responsible for only a fraction of the cancellations, with airlines mostly at fault for the rest.
The feud between the federal agency and United Airlines portends the busy July 4 weekend. The agency expects Thursday will be the busiest day, with more than 50,000 flights.
Tension between the two flared up one year ago during the July Fourth holiday rush. Back then, United blamed the FAA for “traffic management issues” that caused at least 75% of cancellations.
• Vaughn Cockayne can be reached at vcockayne@washingtontimes.com.
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