"United flight cancellations continue into third day"

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

United flight cancellations continue into third day
By Julie Johnsson
The Chicago (IL) Tribune


United Airlines canceled a large number of flights for a third straight day
as it scrambled to recover from a shortage of pilots and lingering effects
of a weekend storm that battered its hub at Chicago's O'Hare International
Airport.

As of mid-morning Wednesday, United had canceled 138 flights, or 9 percent
of its schedule, according to FlightStats.com. United had canceled 310
flights Tuesday and 148 flights on Monday, according to FlightStats.

United blamed a winter storm that raked the Midwest on Sunday-one of the
busiest travel days of the year-United flew planes late into the night to
get holiday travelers to their destinations. But doing so left its planes
and pilots out of position when operations resumed Monday, United said.
But the head of United's pilots union blasted the airline's management for
poorly planning for staffing during the winter months, when storms are
common.

"It is unconscionable that United would allow this gaping hole in the
schedule during the most critical time of year for holiday travelers and
then try to shift the blame to acts of God," said Captain Mark Bathurst, a
United director and chairman of the United master executive council of the
Air Line Pilots Association, in a statement released Wednesday morning

The nation's No. 2 carrier planned to take advantage of the light travel on
Christmas, when its planes would be nearly empty, to effectively reboot its
operations, canceling flights so that it could get planes back into position
for the heavier travel expected Wednesday, said United spokeswoman Robin
Urbanski.

"We did pro-actively cancel flight today in order to best accommodate
customers and get them to their destinations," Urbanski said Tuesday.

But problems still carried over into Wednesday's schedule.

United's largest competitors in Chicago didn't struggle similarly to recover
from Sunday's storm. American Airlines, which also has a major hub at
O'Hare, had canceled 45 flights systemwide as of noon Tuesday. Southwest
Airlines, which dominates travel at Midway Airport, had canceled only one
flight.

Sources close to United said that the airline's lean staffing contributed to
this week's cancellations, but that the disrupted operations weren't the
result of any job action by the carrier's pilots.

Like most major airlines, United has trimmed its pilot corps in an effort to
stay profitable at a time when oil prices are soaring and the economy is
sputtering. However, the leaner staffing leaves carriers vulnerable to crew
shortages when foul weather pounds major operational centers, experts say.

The problem can reach critical levels when pilots grounded by storms reach
their maximum number of duty hours allowed by federal regulators before the
month's end. This forces airlines to scramble to find reserve pilots willing
to take over flights.

Complicating matters for United: It had to find volunteers to fly its planes
on Christmas Eve and Christmas, when many pilots were reluctant to leave
their families to go to work.


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