(NewsNation) — Following a week of snarled air travel, the Fourth of July weekend has gotten off to a relatively smooth start, but some air travelers are still nervous about reaching their destination on time.
Problems began the week before, with severe weather resulting in delays and cancellations. With planes already heavily booked for summer travel, airlines struggled to rebook passengers stranded by storms, resulting in more delays and frustrations for travelers.
Those issues had largely been resolved by the end of the week, but travel ramped up again, with an all-time record of nearly 3 million air passengers on Friday.
Lingering delays and the record number of fliers meant that for some, the travel woes continued. On Saturday, more than 2,000 flights were delayed. Airports in the New York area were hit especially hard due to severe weather and computer issues.
The chaos is amplified by a shortage of air traffic controllers, which Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the Federal Aviation Administration is working on resolving.
“We’re hiring 1500 new air traffic controllers this year. Our plan is to hire another 1,800 traffic controllers next year. We’re also working on staffing models that can better address the needs on the ground and cooperating where possible and appropriate with airlines to make better use of the same national airspace,” he said.
As of Monday evening, FlightAware showed nearly 3,200 flights delayed and about 130 canceled within, into or out of the U.S.
Storms forecast from Arkansas up to New Jersey had the possibility of affecting operations.
Buttigieg reminded travelers to visit flightrights.gov to find out what airlines are required to do as compensation for those who face delays or cancellations at the airport.