Airports across the United States were plunged into chaos leading up to the July 4 holiday weekend when thousands of passengers had their flights disrupted.

Airlines in the United States will find a way to stabilize after a week of flight delays and cancellations, as the number of people taking flights continues to increase after falling to the lowest level during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Nearly 9,000 flights were disrupted on Wednesday, according to Flight knowledge. United Airlines was hit the hardest, with more than 750 cancellations and 1,317 delays.

According to a report by Related press, the delay is being exacerbated by thunderstorms hitting the northeast. On Tuesday, 6,500 flights were delayed and about 1,900 canceled on the East Coast, as a total of nearly 10,000 flights were affected.

United Airlines, with a main hub in Newark, New Jersey, canceled about 786 flights, or 26% of its schedule, on Tuesday. JetBlue canceled 16% of its flights, according to FlightAware.

As of Thursday morning, United Airlines is “still trying to catch up,” Good morning America news. The airline had canceled more than 300 flights, or about 10% of its operations, by the time the show aired.

With more than 52,500 scheduled flights, tourism is expected to peak on Thursday – possibly the biggest travel day of the long holiday.

A spokesperson for United Airlines said: business report the disruption was due to “several consecutive days of severe weather and sustained thunderstorms in the Northeast” along with “FAA personnel limitations”.

“We estimate that over 150,000 United customers alone were affected this weekend due to issues with FAA personnel and their ability to manage traffic,” said United Airlines CEO Scott. Kirby wrote in a memo to employees Tuesday night.

Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose division is part of the FAA, told the GMA that the airline “seems to have some specific issues” with it.

“The statistics clearly show that FAA availability issues aren’t even the number one cause of delays and cancellations,” Mr Buttigieg said, adding that “they are. I want more support in terms of air traffic controllers.”

The FAA has acknowledged that it is understaffed at key facilities, including one in the New York City area.

Last week, the Department of Transportation’s inspector general said in a report that the FAA had only “limited efforts” to fully staff critical air traffic control centers and lacked a plan to deal with it. resolved the issue, according to the report. Related press.

Image obtained by Daily mail capturing the chaos at various airports across the United States; In one photo, travelers can be seen crammed into the United Airlines customer service counter at Houston airport.

Another shows luggage piled up at JFK in New York. In a photo taken at LAX in Los Angeles, travelers can be seen queuing at the check-in counter.

Newark airport passenger Dean Wheelan told GMA: “This is my third day here, I have to fly to Miami. We lost the cruise, we have to pay for it. And now they can’t find our bags.”

Margo and Jason Osborne, who were affected by the cancellation of a United flight in Newark, said they had seen unaccompanied minor searchers and had heard of stranded travelers lining up hours or sleep at the airport.

“All these poor people are really just sitting there at the mercy of a company that doesn’t do anything to help them,” Margo said. Related press. “No customer service right now.”

In a statement to the GMA, a spokesperson for United Airlines said it would “restore operations” over the weekend and would require flight attendants to work on those flights.

Additional Associated Press reporting.