PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — We're just days away from the Fourth of July holiday, which means this weekend will be a busy one with families traveling by air and on the road.
The Transportation Security Administration said it's planning to screen nearly 3 million fliers at airports across the U.S. on Friday alone.
According to the TSA, it's been a rough week for air travel. As of Friday morning, there are already more than 10,000 flights delayed or canceled across the county, according to FlightAware.
The airline industry said an air traffic controller shortage is partly to blame.
But of course, all airlines also operate at the mercy of the weather. And for those in the Midwest, the air quality is the concern. Smoke from Canadian wildfires is drifting south and making the air in cities like Chicago among the most polluted in the world.
Extreme heat has also been a problem.
"We really need to keep the foot on the accelerator to get more controllers qualified and into the workforce," U.S. transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg said.
"It might be sunny where you are, but you don't know where that aircraft has been or is going or where the crew might have been coming from or going to," airline analyst Ross Feinstein said.
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