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Air havoc as passengers return ahead of expected summer travel boom

28 April 2021
Dan Ackermann

Airlines are scrambling to catch up as travelers return to the skies.

Why it matters: Passengers are finding fuller planes, busier airports — and, in some cases, surprise changes to their itineraries — as airlines try to add flights and rework their schedules.

The big picture: Cranking up a complex flight network is like putting a puzzle back together after it suddenly fell on the floor. It can be messy, and it takes time.

What's happening: Delta Air Lines, for example, is notifying customers of changes to existing flights — sometimes adding layovers or even modifying dates of travel.

  • Apologetic emails offer to rebook or cancel trips for a credit if the new itineraries are unsatisfactory, but wading through that process can take hours.

How it works: Putting grounded aircraft back into service can require many hours of maintenance. And laid-off flight crews must undergo retraining and recertification before they can fly again.

Increased vaccinations are helping to unleash pent-up demand after a year of staying home.

  • Many Americans have banked a whole lot of frequent flier miles over the past year, notes Brian Kelly, founder and CEO of The Points Guy, a consumer travel website.
  • Many also have vouchers from cancelled 2020 trips that are going to expire soon, Kelly said.

What to watch: Fares are up from last year's deep discounts, but are still significantly cheaper than they were before the pandemic, according to Airlines for America, a trade organization.

  • Business travel remains practically non-existent, but some leisure passengers are splurging — or using banked miles — to upgrade to first class.
  • Airlines have gotten more flexible with change fees and refunds for canceled flights since the beginning of the pandemic. But, Kelly warns, "It's like Whack-A-Mole. One fee goes away but another fee comes along."
  • Travel to more of Europe could open up soon, after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signaled last weekend that vaccinated Americans will be allowed to travel to the continent this summer.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.