Right at the end of 2023, the U.S. airline industry decided it was time to revive one of its age-old shibboleths: that private aircraft are the source of air-travel delays. In a letter to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker, industry organization Airlines4America (A4A) wrote to call their attention to operational challenges its member carriers experienced during the 2023 holiday season. “Specifically,” A4A President and CEO Nicholas E. Calio wrote, “significant non-scheduled aviation operations (i.e., business and private aviation volume) along with continued ATC staffing challenges have driven increased delays and cancellations over the holiday period.”
“The non-scheduled and inconsistent non-commercial operations create challenges for our carriers because flight plans are being filed at the latest points possible and some flights are changing destinations enroute,” Calio added. “All of this creates operational uncertainty for our carriers and the entire National Airspace System (NAS).” (Cue sad trombones.)
