American Airlines canceled or delayed eight flights to and from San Diego Sunday amid nationwide disruptions due to weather and staffing issues, officials said.
The San Diego International Airport's flight departure and arrivals website showed on Sunday that several flights were impacted.
- A 12:20 p.m. flight from Dallas/Ft. Worth;
- A 1:11 p.m. flight from Charlotte; and
- A 5:53 p.m. flight from Phoenix.
- A 1:51 p.m. flight from Dallas/Ft. Worth was delayed.
Two departure flights to Phoenix were canceled Sunday, one at 11:04 p.m. and another at 5:53 p.m., and a departure flight to Dallas/ Ft. Worth at 2:43 p.m. was delayed.
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The airline canceled more than 1,500 flights this weekend across the country -- about 9% of the airline's total, officials said.
About 1% of American's Monday schedule, or 37 flights, were canceled, according to FlightAware.
"This week saw two days of severe winds in DFW (Dallas Fort-Worth), with gusts of up to 50 mph on Thursday, creating crosswind limitations that sharply reduced arrival capacity by more than half," David Seymour, American's chief operating officer, wrote in a letter to team members on Saturday.
"This weather drove a large number of cancellations at DFW, as we could only use two runways instead of the usual five that handle our operation. With additional weather throughout the system, our staffing begins to run tight as crew members end up out of their regular flight sequences. To make sure we are taking care of our customers and providing scheduling certainty for our crews, we have adjusted our operation for the last few days this month by proactively canceling some flights.
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"We are taking this measure to minimize any inconvenience as much as possible. Most of the customers impacted by these changes are being rebooked the same day, and we apologize for having to make these changes.
"... The good news moving forward is that we continue to staff up across our entire operation and we will see more of our team returning in the coming months," the letter continued. "Specifically, for flight attendants, we have nearly 1,800 returning from leave starting Nov. 1 -- and the remainder coming back by Dec. 1 -- and will have 600+ new hire, flight attendants, on the property by end of December. Additionally, hiring for our airports is well underway and we anticipate 4,000 new team members joining us across the system in the fourth quarter."
Other airlines have also posted mass flight cancellations. Southwest earlier this month said that a meltdown in October, in which it canceled more than 2,000 flights, cost it $75 million. It also said it would further trim its remaining 2021 schedule after earlier cuts to avoid more disruptions.
