45,000+ flights were canceled this summer. Here's what flyers can expect this winter.

Summer 2022 is now infamous for being a tough one for travelers. People wanted to get out there again, and although airlines posted record profits, they also canceled a huge number of flights, and nearly a quarter of all trips were delayed by 15 minutes or more. "No one can say that the airlines had an operationally good summer," Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research, a travel industry strategic research firm, told USA TODAY. "No airline executive on the recent earnings calls was giving his airline a gold ribbon or blue star for summer performance." For travelers, this summer was a low point in terms of getting around with minimal stress. The good news is: things seem to be getting better. The short answer: Not well. According to Department of Transportation data, more than 45,000 flights – almost 2.5% of all scheduled services – were canceled between June 1 and Aug. 31. And over 413,000 flights (22.5%) were delayed by 15 minutes or more in that same period. Some airlines performed even worse than the average. American Airlines canceled around 4.5% of its flights (more than 10,000 of them) in June, July and August. That number doesn't even include regional American Eagle or code-shared operations. "It means almost 1 in 20 American Airlines flights were canceled," Harteveldt said. "If an airline is canceling a noticeable number of flights, and in American’s case, 4.5% of flights were canceled during June, July and August, that undermines consumer trust in an airline."<br/>