...supposedly because of the hiring crisis. It isn't so much a "hiring crisis" as "intentional early retirement is business as usual". Airlines received billio

...supposedly because of the hiring crisis. It isn't so much a "hiring crisis" as "intentional early retirement is business as usual". Airlines received billions of dollars from Congress to encourage them not to lay off workers during 2020. They took the money and used some of it as early retirement bonuses for pilots and other employees. [0][1][2] They knew they wouldn't have enough personnel to fly many of the flights they scheduled, but tickets are paid in advance and free loans from would-be customers are good for executive bonuses. Now they're blaming "weather", when the sun beats down with not a cloud in the sky, so they don't have to help passengers pay for hotels and alternate flights. If there were anyone home at DoT there would be major fines to pay, but they know that CIA Pete isn't going to do anything to annoy donors. [3] [0] https://simpleflying.com/southwest-early-retirement-package/ https://simpleflying.com/southwest-early-retirement-package/ [1] https://www.dallasnews.com/business/airlines/2020/04/30/39000-american-airlines-workers-take-early-retirement-leave-or-reduced-hours-in-face-of-covid-19-pandemic/ https://www.dallasnews.com/business/airlines/2020/04/30/3900... [2] https://simpleflying.com/us-airline-layoffs-early-retirement/ https://simpleflying.com/us-airline-layoffs-early-retirement... [3] https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/06/airline-delays-are-impacting-everyone-including-pete-buttigieg https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/06/airline-delays-are-i...