More than 2,000 flights delayed as holiday weekend kicks off

More than 2,000 flights have been delayed around the country on Saturday as the Fourth of July holiday weekend kicks off. 

A record number of Americans are expected to travel during this weekend, with a projected 4.17 million travelers flying to their destination. The nearly 2,500 delays come as the airline industry is trying to shake off a series of delays and cancellations originally spurred by poor weather over the past week. 

Only about 130 flights have been cancelled within, into or out of the United States so far Saturday as of early afternoon, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. 

The busiest travel day of the weekend was Friday, but massive crowds will continue through the holiday on Tuesday. The Transportation Security Administration expects to screen about 17.7 million passengers between June 29 and July 5. 

Severe weather cancelled and delayed hundreds of flights on the East Coast earlier this week as intense thunderstorms and strong winds prevented departures over a few days. But scheduling issues continued past the effects of the weather, and some airlines have blamed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for poor staffing levels. 

United Airlines has suffered more delays and cancellations than any other airline, with more than 3,000 flights canceled in the past week. Only about 50 of the airline’s flights have been canceled on Saturday, but more than 300 have been delayed. 

United CEO Scott Kirby said in a memo to staff that the FAA “failed us” last weekend, and 150,000 travelers were affected by the staffing shortfalls. JetBlue also said it had trouble keeping its schedule on time because of limits on air traffic coming into and out of New York airports. 

The effects of wildfire smoke spreading across parts of the country coming from Canada could also further affect holiday travel this weekend.