Frustration is growing among American Airlines passengers as the number of cancellations continues to climb.
In numbers obtained by NBC 5, by Monday night, more than 400 flights will have been canceled in less than a week -- nearly 100 more than the Fort Worth-based airline projected. Many of those flights have been canceled ahead of time, before passengers even get to the airport. On Sunday alone, 100 flights were canceled. On Monday, 72 flights were projected to be canceled.
American Airlines said in a statement about the canceled flights:
"The recent disruptions are primarily due to the significant increase in maintenance write-ups by our pilots, many right at the time of departure. Additionally, continued higher-than-normal sick usage by pilots, which has been up more than 20 percent year over year and has been elevated for months, impacts the availability of reserve pilots, which can ultimately lead to cancellations."
Pilots fought back showing us the numbers. Here is the breakdown according to the Allied Pilots Association:
September Daily Pilot Sick Rates
9/04 - 442 pilots, 5.84%
9/05 - 445 pilots, 5.88%
9/06 - 442 pilots, 5.84%
9/07 - 472 pilots, 6.24%
9/08 - 501 pilots, 6.62%
9/09 - 523 pilots, 6.91%
9/10 - 514 pilots, 6.79%
9/11 - 505 pilots, 6.67%
9/12 - 522 pilots, 6.90%
9/13 - 537 pilots, 7.10%
9/14 - 570 pilots, 7.53%
9/15 - 611 pilots, 8.08%
9/16 - 607 pilots, 8.02%
9/17 - 501 pilots, 6.62%
9/18 - 564 pilots, 7.56%
9/19 - 576 pilots, 7.61%
9/20 - 571 pilots, 7.55%
9/21 - 573 pilots, 7.57%
9/22 - 587 pilots, 7.76%
Pilots say the average falls pretty close to that in the last few months. They say there is no "sick-out."
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Pilots fault the aging fleet for cancellations. They say if there were any spike in sick calls, it's due to pilots getting health matters squared away before any changes to health care plans are made.
