Flight cancellations were up in 2022 amid staffing issues, bad weather and tech glitches
The Department of Transportation released 2022 airline performance data on Thursday, and it turns out it was statistically not a very good year for the nation’s air travelers.
Overall, between 2.69% and 2.71% of flights were canceled last year depending on calculation methodology, the highest cancellation rate in a decade, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics – with the exception of 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Aside from 2020, the overall cancellation rate has been below 2% every year since 2015.
Flight delays are calculated separately, but a variety of issues caused airlines to altogether cancel flights close to departure.
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have sufficient staff to operate all the flights they’d scheduled.compounded those issues on some days, forcing airlines to cancel more flights as they shuffled to get crews back into place.
In June, 3.1% of flights were canceled, going down to 1.8% in July and back up to 2.5% in August.
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committed to revamping the way the airline operates, and investing in IT upgrades to prevent a similar issue from happening again.
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Customers affected by the cancellations were entitled to 25,000 Rapid Rewards points and compensation for any extra out-of-pocket expenses they may have incurred as a result, including last-minute flight tickets on other airlines, hotel rooms, car rentals and meals.
The airline expects the incident to cost it around $1 billion in lost revenue and compensation claims.
How the major airlines ranked for cancellations in 2022
According to the DOT, here’s how the major airlines and their regional partners stacked up last year:
- Hawaiian Airlines and its partners – 0.92% of flights canceled
- Delta Air Lines and its partners – 2% of flights canceled
- Alaska Airlines and its partners – 2.16% of flights canceled
- United Airlines and its partners – 2.71% of flights canceled
- American Airlines and its partners – 2.81% of flights canceled
- Frontier Airlines – 2.87% of flights canceled
- Spirit Airlines – 3% of flights canceled
- Southwest Airlines – 3.26% of flights canceled
- Allegiant Air – 3.52% of flights canceled
- JetBlue Airways – 3.74% of flights canceled
What you’re owed if your flight is delayed or canceled
Canceled? You’re entitled to a full refund if you choose not to travel.
Delayed? It depends. Many airlines will rebook you following a significant delay, or compensate you with hotel and meal vouchers among other things. Check out the DOT’s online dashboard or this full breakdown from USA TODAY.
Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com