Flight Cancellations Being Announced Already

Thousands more travelers were left stranded on Thursday as more U.S. flights were cancelled – just in time for the 4th of July holiday weekend.

Since Saturday, more than 35,000 flights have been delayed and at least 7,000 have been cancelled due to severe weather and air traffic controller staffing issues, according to FlightAware. And with a record 2.8 million people expected to take to the skies on Friday, the country’s major airlines appear to have their work cut out for them.

Despite the issues, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says the situation has improved tremendously since last year. “We’ve known that summer is going to be a stress test on the system,” he says. “The good news is, we’ve seen a lot of progress in this year improvements through Memorial Day, and also major passengers’ rights compared to a year ago.”