Why American Airlines Canceled Around 7,500 Flights in June

It has been a rough start to the summer for American Airlines, as the carrier canceled around 7,500 flights in June.

According to The Wall Street Journal, American canceled an estimated four percent of its scheduled flights last month, falling behind competitors like JetBlue and United Airlines, who canceled less than one percent of their June flights.

While American’s on-time arrival rate was similar to other carriers (around 70 percent), the rise in cancellations can be attributed to three primary factors; unfavorable weather throughout the United States, the worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX fleet and maintenance issues.

The carrier boasts 24 of the grounded 737 MAX aircraft, which has resulted in the cancellation of around 115 flights per day and the shutdown of an entire route to ensure the airline has enough planes to serve its most popular routes.

In total, the airline announced it has lost an estimated $185 million in revenue and boasts 1.1 billion fewer Available Seat Miles than it initially expected for the second quarter.

Another problem faced by American is the ongoing issues with its mechanics. The airline filed a lawsuit against its mechanic unions for allegedly slowing down the pace of work to influence new contract negotiations.