This Popular Airline Is Cutting Flights From 7 Major Cities, Starting July 1

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When a global pandemic slammed into the travel industry in 2020, it nearly ground commercial aviation to a halt. But sooner than most executives expected, demand for travel came roaring back. (And that expectation-versus-reality discrepancy led to a staffing shortage after widespread layoffs and furloughs). As a result, major carriers rushed to rev up their flight schedules by bringing back suspended routes and adding new daily departures to accommodate passengers flocking to the skies.

Despite the hot demand, some airlines are nevertheless cutting routes again, to the frustration of passengers. Read on to find out the latest airline to strike flights from its schedule, and how it could affect your upcoming travel plans.

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Just last week, United announced that it would be cutting flights to eight major cities over the next month as it grapples with operational issues, according to travel news outlet The Points Guy. For at least the month of June, the carrier will suspend service from Newark to Maui (OGG), Honolulu (HNL), and Tokyo (NRT), as well as between Washington Dulles (IAD) and Sao Paulo (GRU), Geneva (GVA), and Honolulu. The airline also said it was suspending flights from Dulles to Dublin from June 4 through June 30.

In that case, the carrier explained that it was suspending the flights due to an aircraft shortage: Its Boeing 777-200 and 777-200ER planes have remained grounded since an incident in February 2021 in which a Honolulu-bound United flight from Denver rained engine parts onto the Denver area. They won’t be back in service in time to handle United’s previously announced June schedule.

READ THIS NEXT: Never Say These 4 Words to the Person Next to You on a Plane, Expert Warns .

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JetBlue has been under fire in recent months for widespread cancellations and delays that have inconvenienced customers. In an effort to avoid more of the same going into the ultra-busy summer travel season, the carrier announced it is striking 20 routes for parts of the summer as a measure meant to build in some extra slack in its schedule and mitigate the potential for more cancellations, according to The Points Guy.

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The most affected city is Fort Lauderdale, which is losing eight routes for parts of the season, according to The Points Guy. Cancun will experience a reduction in service from Raleigh-Durham and Tampa.

Last spring, JetBlue announced service to Vancouver from Boston and New York-JFK. While the JFK flights are still set to roll out on June 9, the carrier has dropped plans to fly to the Canadian city from Boston.

Further, JetBlue is permanently exiting service to Montrose/Telluride airport in Colorado.

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While some of JetBlue’s operational issues began with disruption resulting from winter weather or thunderstorms, the staffing shortage and over-packed schedule snowballed into a mess that forced the airline to cancel close to 10 percent of the flights in its April schedule.

It hopes the new cuts will help avoid similar chaos going into the summer. “These changes will support operational reliability and improve schedules elsewhere in our network, helping to ensure we get our customers where they need to go during this busy season,” JetBlue said in a statement to The Points Guy. “The adjustments also scale back flying that does not make as much sense in the current environment of significantly higher fuel prices.”

It continued, “Even with these adjustments, we’re still planning for a very busy summer.”

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Never Say These 4 Words to the Person Next to You on a Plane, Expert Warns

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Airplane travel these days is a highly fraught experience. Current circumstances have created a perfect storm of crowded airports, oversold or canceled flights , and passengers assaulting crew members—and that’s all without the threat of COVID exposure putting everyone on edge. With that in mind, the last thing you’d want to do is to make an already charged situation even worse by making the person next to you on the plane uncomfortable. Read on to discover the four words you should never say to your plane seatmate, according to an etiquette expert.

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Among so many contenders that come to her mind, August Abbott , PhD, a relationship counselor and etiquette expert on JustAnswer, says the very worst thing you can say to your plane seatmate is “I’m a big talker” or any other comment about how much you plan to chat for the duration of the flight—followed up by delivery on the promise.

“There are so many [things not to say],” she says, “but the one that makes me want to change my flight is when someone says, ‘I’m a nervous flyer, so I talk a lot !’”

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You want to keep things amicable while you’re flying side by side, but there’s no need to keep the conversation flowing. “Your ideal conversation to any stranger on a plane should be little more than, ‘hi, I’m (name). I’m coming from (where) going to (where else), are you doing well today?’” Abbott suggests.

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That’s plenty of conversation with a stranger on an airplane—unless it’s clear that both parties are willing and eager to keep it going. “If they seem disinterested, don’t push it. Put your headphones on, break out your phone to play a game on silent, and respect that just because we’re nearly in each others’ laps doesn’t mean we need to be intimate or prying or even forced to make conversation,” Abbott says. “From there if they want to talk, keep it light, listen a lot, ask about them a lot more.”

She recalls once spending 12 hours on a flight with someone who clearly didn’t care to be talkative. “As we were disembarking, they thanked me!” she says. “They said they were working through some things in their life and really needed the quiet time. They appreciated that I didn’t impose myself on them like they feared I would.”

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“Sometimes the worst thing to say someone on a plane is anything outside of the realm of ‘hello,’” Abbott says of many people’s preference for silence. But she also offered several “runners up” for major pitfalls to avoid at all costs:

• “Will you be using your barf bag? May I?”
• “I have been traveling for days and really need a shower!”
• “I’m sure it’s just a tickle… not COVID.”

In the end, she says, airplane etiquette is about kindness and common sense. “Mutual respect … is the teamwork we so desperately need in this world that’s sometimes upside down,” Abbott concludes. “Common sense and respect are the cornerstones of our ‘how to live’ handbook.”

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