Airline Travel Disruption Forces Breeze to Delay Direct Flights From RI International to LAX to Feb

Airline Travel Disruption Forces Breeze to Delay Direct Flights From RI International to LAX to Feb

Both domestically and globally, air travel is in a period of disruption.

Two years of pent demand, a workforce in flux, and a dramatic increase in fuel costs are impacting air travel, resulting in flight cancellations across the globe.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

While Rhode Island International Airport has been on a roll in adding dozens of flights, the airport is now suffering its first significant setback during this period of turbulence.

Breeze Airways has confirmed that the direct flights that were scheduled to begin this week from RI International to Los Angeles are being postponed until February of 2023.

In Hartford, Breeze has made the same decision.

"Sadly, we have to postpone the debut of our LAX operations. It’s not just the PVD-LAX service that is impacted, we have postponed all routes into LAX into Fall/Winter given crew availability and other supply chain issues.  It’s important to remember that the LAX flight from TF Green was always a summer seasonal route, starting Wednesday through September 3," said Gareth Edmondson-Jones, Director, External Communications & Media Relations for Breeze.

"Guests whose travel plans were impacted receive a full refund, and it’s very quick and easy via the app, so there’s no need for long waits or hours-long hold times to need to speak with someone. We’re also giving each Guest 10,000 BreezePoints (worth $100) as an apology for their inconvenience," he added.

 

Global Issue

Airline cancellations are now a significant factor for travelers. CNN reported on Sunday there were 700 flight cancellations.

However, the number of cancellations overall is a relatively small percentage.

"About 2.9% of U.S. domestic flights were canceled in June through Thursday, compared with about 2.1% during the same period of 2019, or about 2,100 more canceled flights, according to data from Cirium," reports the Wall Street Journal.

The New York Times has warned about European travel.

"The start of the summer travel season in Europe has been marred by chaos at airports and popular tourist destinations as airlines, government agencies and industry operators struggle to meet travel demand, which, in some spots, has already surpassed 2019 levels," according to NYT. "The mayhem is likely to get worse, travel experts warn, as more people decide to travel following the recent decision by the Biden administration to drop its coronavirus testing requirement for international air travel."

Business Insider was even more critical.

"Get ready for a summer of air travel hell" was the newsletter headline.

"This has been a particularly bad year for air travel. In fact, 2022 has had the highest percentage of delayed flights and highest percentage of canceled flights in the past eight years. (And just think of all the headlines from last weekend's air travel chaos…) Dozens of different factors are adding up to a hectic summer for travel, but they all mean one thing: If you're flying this summer, get ready for a travel nightmare," wrote BI.

 

34 Direct Flights From RI International

One advantage RI International may have is many of the new flights added are direct flights to places like Nashville and Denver to name a few.