Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg came under fire from US netizens because the Forth of July travel chaos has left thousands of passengers stranded, with 4,500 delayed or canceled flights leaving thousands of people stranded. Angry tweets slammed the Transportation Secretary for not fixing the airline industry, as the number of Americans traveling by air for the holiday is expected to reach 25 million, surpassing pre-pandemic levels for the first time in four years.
Sunrise at the Denver airport. No such thing as beauty sleep here. Not a wink. Thanks @United for a truly miserable start to the holiday weekend. Compensate and accommodate your passengers. @SecretaryPete @nytimes pic.twitter.com/E3bcUL5v8J
— Bree Hocking (@BreeHocking) July 2, 2023
Almost 3000 flights were delayed or canceled this weekend, and this is after he said he would fix the airline industry. However, Buttigieg is focused on making sure the U.S. airlines stay on track over the holiday as he warns of severe weather causing even more delays and cancellations. As of Sunday afternoon, there were about 550 flights within, into, or out of the United States that have been canceled already today, and another 4,025 flights delayed so far.
The chaos began ahead of the holiday weekend as storms began walloping the northeast and parts of the Midwest, causing mass delays and cancelations into and out of New York area airports. Stranded passengers have reported having to sleep at the airport and stand in line for hours as they try to rebook their flights, with some saying they were forced to wait several days for their checked bags.
United Airlines is offering furious passengers 30,000 air miles to try and convince them to stay loyal to the company following a week of cancellation chaos. The mass debacle comes about a week after Buttigieg warned of forthcoming travel disruptions due to a July 1 5G service boost that US wireless companies plan to execute.