Airlines canceled hundreds of weekend flights and thousands more were delayed as thunderstorms in Florida slowed traffic in one of the country’s top travel destinations during spring break. More than 6,000 US flights were delayed and 1,930 were canceled on Saturday, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. Disruptions continue on Sunday with nearly 1,540 canceled and more than twice that number of delays, though Monday schedules appeared to stabilize. Thunderstorms are especially challenging for airlines because they are harder to predict and plan for compared with other weather like winter storms and hurricanes, during which airlines often cancel flights hours if not days in advance. Disruptions due to storms tend to cascade because crews and planes are left out of position for their assignments. Southwest canceled 520 flights, or 14% of its Saturday schedule, and had 1,512 delays or 43% of scheduled flights, according to FlightAware. About 400 flights, 10% of Southwest’s Sunday schedule, were canceled and another 25%, more than 900, were delayed. Before the storms sparked delays in Florida, the airline had briefly paused departures early in the day to perform checks on a backend system that it had reset as part of regular maintenance overnight. Those systems are used for tasks including pre-departure paperwork. Southwest said some of its crew members couldn’t find hotel rooms amid the disruptions, something crews complained about last year. “With widespread cancellations in the midst of a busy travel season, hotel rooms were unavailable in a few cities, and late day Crew timeouts in those cities meant that some Crew Members were left without rooms,” Southwest said in a note to crews on Sunday. “We take that shortfall seriously and are working to follow up with affected crew members.” Story has more. <br/>
general
The US NTSB said Friday it was assisting Chinese investigators with the download of the cockpit voice recorder in Washington from a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 jet as it sent a team of US investigators to China. The US safety board said it was helping the Civil Aviation Administration of China “with the download of the cockpit voice recorder from China Eastern Flight 5735 in our lab in Washington.” China’s decision to send a key piece of evidence to Washington for assistance shows the urgency of the investigation at a time when the two nations have been at odds on other issues. The plane crashed into a mountainside in southern China on March 21 killing all 132 on board and was mainland China’s deadliest aviation disaster in 28 years. Recovery crews on Sunday found the second black box - the flight data recorder - in the wreckage. The cockpit voice recorder will likely provide investigators with details of communications between the flight’s three pilots, which is one more than is normally required on board the Boeing plane. Earlier Friday, the NTSB said a team of three investigators had left for China to assist in the crash probe. The NTSB said “investigators will limit interactions with those outside of investigation similar to safety protocols at Beijing Olympics, which will allow them to begin work immediately without a quarantine.” The team includes the US accredited representative Sathya Silva, who is an NTSB senior aviation accident investigator. An NTSB spokesman said the US team was traveling on a commercial flight. It was not clear if team will travel to the crash site in China and for how the long team will be in China but it could be several weeks. The NTSB also said a small team from Boeing is also traveling China to assist in the investigation. Under an international agreement, the NTSB has the right to participate since the plane was designed and built in the United States.<br/>
China's commercial hub of Shanghai ground to halt on Friday after the government locked down most of the city's 26 million residents to stop the spread of COVID-19, even as official numbers put local cases falling for the second day in a row. The city government late on Thursday extended an existing lockdown in eastern districts, just as western parts of the city were shut down as scheduled. Fresh official guidance indicated that many in China's most populous city will now be required to stay home as long as it takes to control the outbreak - instructed not to cross their doorsteps even to dispose of rubbish or walk their dogs. Public transport in most of the city has been suspended, while businesses considered non-essential, like restaurants and shopping malls, have also had to close. The lockdown, designed to stop an outbreak of the highly transmissible Omicron variant that started about a month ago, began on Monday and was originally due to last 10 days in total. Areas east of Shanghai's Huangpu River were to be closed for five days, before reopening as western districts began a five-day shutdown. Shanghai has said that it will keep its airports open but many flights have been cancelled. On Friday, only one flight was available at the domestic-focused Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, which took off from Shanghai at around 11 a.m. to the capital city of Beijing, according to aviation data provider Variflight.<br/>
Passengers are being warned of longer than usual queues at airports over Easter due to staff shortages. The Airport Operators Association (AOA) said its members had been trying to hire for new roles following job losses and staff departing to other industries during the coronavirus pandemic. But it warned recruitment problems and Covid-related staff absences could put operations at airports under strain. The AOA represents most UK airports ranging from Heathrow to Edinburgh. Karen Dee, CE of the AOA, said at peak time passengers "may not have the experience they are used to". She said airports were working hard to recruit more staff in the run-up to the Easter holidays, and were "working with the UK government to resolve any delays in the necessary checks before staff can start work". The AOA has asked travellers to arrive early for flights due to longer check-in waits and has also urged people to make sure they have any Covid-related documents needed for their destination. Holiday bookings jumped with trips planned for Easter after UK Covid travel tests were scrapped.<br/>
If your TikToks have gone viral or you’re somewhat Instagram famous, you might want to try to catch a flight on a new airline that’s just for online content creators. Willa, an online payments company that caters to social media creators, just launched an airline called Willa Air – and its first voyage will take 12 lucky influencers to this month’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on an exclusive, and free, flight. In addition to the free travel, the airline’s luxury offerings include a pre-flight champagne bar and a post-festival weekend detox with IV drips, massages and a juice bar at the company’s Venice Beach lounge in Los Angeles, according to its website. The flight lasts under an hour, during which time influencers will have champagne, drinks and dessert – not to mention plenty of opportunities to collaborate with their fellow content creators. Launched in 2019, Willa’s payments platform is aimed at helping freelancers, particularly content creators, request and receive payments quickly from brands, sponsors and other collaborators. The company said in 2021 that it had raised $21m in venture capital funding and had a waitlist of more than 150,000 freelancers. “We launched Willa Air to provide superfast and convenient travel for the content creators who are jetting off to events across the U.S,” said Aron Levin, co-founder and chief marketing officer at Willa, in a press release. “Willa was founded with the mission of helping creators, and quick, seamless travel is one of the many ways we are supporting our audience.” While the first flight for Willa Air will take just 12 passengers to Coachella, the company says it’s also planning future trips, including one to New York City’s Fashion Week events in September. Willa Air is taking applications for the free Coachella flight from content creators who are 18 years or older and can depart from Los Angeles, California on April 15. You have until April 8 to apply, and the company will let you know by April 11 if you’re chosen.<br/>