Airlines
U.S. Regional Airlines Bear Brunt of Schedule Disruptions
While flight cancellations taper, the U.S. regional airline industry continues to face severe staffing shortages.
A PSA Airlines CRJ700 takes off from Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. American Airlines has placed much of the burden for schedule adjustments on its American Eagle regional affiliates. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-SA) by airlines470)
A PSA Airlines CRJ700 takes off from Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport. American Airlines has placed much of the burden for schedule adjustments on its American Eagle regional affiliates. (Photo: Flickr: Creative Commons (BY-SA) by airlines470)

Winter flight disruptions exacerbated by Covid-related staffing shortages continue to plague the U.S. airline industry, making for an unprecedented challenge for route planners charged with optimizing aircraft utilization while minimizing inconvenience for the traveling public. The industry’s experience over recent weeks, peaking around the Christmas and New Year holidays, might suggest that a so-called perfect storm has overloaded staffing capacity that has long been depleted by a widely acknowledged dearth of qualified pilots.