American Airlines Cancels 9% of Its Flights Nationwide, 28 at LAX

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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - American Airlines canceled more than 1,500 flights this weekend -- about 9% of the airline's total -- due to weather and staffing issues, officials said today, with some of the cancellations affecting Southland airports.

LAX saw 28 cancelled American Airlines flights Sunday, Los Angeles World Airports' Frederick Badlissi told City News Service. He added that 180 other flights at LAX would be on time.

Hollywood Burbank Airport had one canceled American flight Sunday.

Long Beach Airport did not list any canceled American flights.

“This week saw two days of severe winds in DFW (Dallas Fort-Worth), with gusts of up to 50 mph on Thursday, creating crosswind limitations that sharply reduced arrival capacity by more than half,” David Seymour, American's chief operating officer, wrote in a letter to team members on Saturday.

“This weather drove a large number of cancellations at DFW, as we could only use two runways instead of the usual five that handle our operation. With additional weather throughout the system, our staffing begins to run tight as crew members end up out of their regular flight sequences. To make sure we are taking care of our customers and providing scheduling certainty for our crews, we have adjusted our operation for the last few days this month by proactively canceling some flights.

“We are taking this measure to minimize any inconvenience as much as possible. Most of the customers impacted by these changes are being rebooked the same day, and we apologize for having to make these changes.

“...The good news moving forward is that we continue to staff up across our entire operation and we will see more of our team returning in the coming months,” the letter continued. “Specifically, for flight attendants we have nearly 1,800 returning from leave starting Nov. 1 -- and the remainder coming back by Dec. 1 -- and will have 600+ new hire flight attendants on property by end of December. Additionally, hiring for our airports is well underway and we anticipate 4,000 new team members joining us across the system in the fourth quarter.”