FAA reports on Travel during US Fourth of July

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

July 7, 2023 – After a rocky start to the 4th of July holidays, US air travel seems to have rebounded somewhat.  On July 3rd there was chaos in airports across the country, as residents tried to rush to their final destinations for the country’s independence weekend celebrations.

At 8 pm Monday, there were 1,004 delayed flights according to flight tracking service Flight Aware and nearly 100 cancellations.  The cancellations were exacerbated by a host of weather conditions affecting different parts of the country.

The Federal Aviation Administration indicated that thunderstorms across the East Coast and extreme temperatures in areas like Las Vegas would likely continue to slow down flights.  Large hail, tornadoes, and thunderstorms were also cited as possibilities that would slow down travel in areas like Columbia.

The FAA had warned travellers of the risk beforehand.

By 10 am Tuesday, however, the delays had mellowed out to 161 with only 11 cancellations.

The US recently instituted a law requiring airlines to refund passengers if they decided not to move forward with a trip after significant delays or cancellations, which the FAA reminded residents was in now effect.