(New York) Storms in shambles, smoke from Canadian fires, air personnel in tension: the millions of Americans who travel for the national holiday will have to face degraded conditions and inflation which is eroding their power to purchase.
Some 50.7 million people are expected to travel at least 80 kilometers from their homes this weekend, all means of transport combined, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA), during this sequence which will culminate on Tuesday July 4 with the United States Declaration of Independence celebrations.
Some of those who have taken the lead have already experienced setbacks, marked by the cancellation of more than 3,200 flights departing from or arriving at one of New York’s three major airports since the beginning of the week of made of intermittent thunderstorms.
Other stormy episodes are expected in the region until the end of next week.
Travelers from the Northeast are also dealing with degraded air quality as winds carry smoke from fires in Canada over the border.
As of Friday, the AQI benchmark is reporting “very unhealthy” air in several regions as particles move toward the Atlantic coast, according to public site AirNow.
“If you really want to leave, you have to ignore it,” commented Thursday, fatalistic Ellen Coakley at LaGuardia airport in New York. This traveler came from Chicago, where the smell of Canadian fumes was, according to her, present.
Jennifer Hamilton, meanwhile, saw “crowded” airports during her journey that took her to LaGuardia from Costa Rica, with a flight to Washington from another New York airport, JFK.
” Do crazy things ”
The general manager of the American company United Airlines, Scott Kirby, has lambasted his employees for what he considers to be the shortcomings of the Civil Aviation Regulatory Authority (FAA), in a situation of understaffing.
According to him, the FAA has therefore ordered weather-related flight cancellations, when it “was usually able to manage” these situations “without impact on (the) activity and (the) customers”.
United’s pilot and flight attendant unions instead pointed the finger in their direction.
The forced cancellations have snowballed for their airline, whose network of flight crew has been disrupted, leading to the cancellation of dozens of other flights and piles of luggage at several airports, particularly in Newark, New Jersey.
Transport Minister Pete Buttigieg estimated on CNN that the company had “internal problems to solve” and assured that the FAA “(continued) to monitor the weather and the smoke”.
United assures that the situation is improving, but still counted more than 200 cancellations and 300 delays on Friday morning, according to the specialized site FlightAware.
Since the coronavirus pandemic, the aviation sector has struggled to meet its staffing needs, which leaves it at the mercy of climatic episodes such as during the cold snap in December, responsible for the cancellation of more than 10,000 flights.
“Companies no longer have a margin today,” explains Chris Raite, analyst at Third Bridge.
More than 80% of travelers on the July 4 weekend will travel by car, encouraged by the decline in gasoline prices, which are more than 25% below their level of last year.
This boost is nevertheless put into perspective by the inflation which affects food (+6.7% over one year), a major item of expenditure during this holiday weekend, marked by chain barbecues, against a backdrop of of fireworks.
The National Retail Federation (NRF) estimates that each American household will spend, on average, $93 this weekend, 11% more than last year.
“Consumers have taken a beating, but they are still standing,” notes Rabobank analyst Tom Bailey, for whom the 4th of July celebration is seen as an opportunity to “splurge”.