Pete Buttigieg's flight was canceled and he had to drive from Washington to New York.
"That is happening to a lot of people, and that is exactly why we are paying close attention to what can be done and how to make sure that the airlines are delivering."
Buttigieg wants the airlines to stress-test their summer schedules to make sure they can operate all their flights with the employees they have. Pressure could be put on airlines to cut their summer schedules.
According to Buttigieg, his department could take action against airlines that don't live up to consumer protection standards. He wants to know if there are major flight disruptions over the July Fourth holiday weekend.
Fines can be a result of enforcement actions. Air Canada was fined over slow refunds.
During Thursday's virtual meeting, airline executives talked about steps they are taking to avoid a repeat of the Memorial Day weekend. We're going to see how those steps work.
There is travel again. The Friday before Thanksgiving was the busiest day of the year with more than 2 million people passing through security.
The record would have been shattered had airlines not canceled 1,400 flights because of the storms. More than 1,700 flights were scrubbed a day ago.
When it comes to flying in the summer, weather is always a factor, but airlines have acknowledged staffing shortages due to the rapid return of travel from the Pandemic lows. Airlines are trying to find pilots and other workers to replace employees who left after the Pandemic hit.
It takes months to hire and train a pilot to meet federal safety standards, but the Transportation Department sees no reason the airlines can't help passengers if their flight is canceled.
Staffing is a challenge for the government.
Flight delays in Florida have been caused by shortages at the FAA. There will be more staff there by the FAA. The Transportation Security Administration has created a force of 1,000 screeners who can be dispatched to airports when checkpoint lines get too long.
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