Why the cancellations and delays in air travel this summer?

August 8, 2022 | 4:28 PM

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  Scott LaMar
  

  

  Scott LaMar has worked in both radio and television for more than four decades.

  Currently, LaMar is the Host and Executive Producer of the daily Smart Talk news and public affairs program on WITF-FM, 89.5 & 93.3 in Harrisburg, Pa.

  Previously, LaMar was WITF TV’s Sr. Public Affairs producer and produced the station’s award-winning weekly public affairs TV program Smart Talk.

  LaMar was a regular contributor to BBC World News TV before and after the 2020 U.S. Presidential election.

  The American Society of Civil Engineers honored LaMar with their national Excellence in Journalism award in 2020. LaMar was the only recipient of the award nationally. He has won more than a dozen Pennsylvania Associated Press Broadcast Awards since 2000 and has been nominated for five Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.

  LaMar and Smart Talk have been recognized throughout the Central Pennsylvania community including ADVOZ Lancaster’s first “Dignity in Dialogue Award”, the South-Central Assembly’s “Regional Citizen Award” and was named a “Humanitarian Hero” by The Humane Society of the United States/Pennsylvania.

  A native of Coatesville, Pa., LaMar has also worked as a broadcast news anchor, sports play-by-play announcer and manager.

Passenger airplane taking of at sunrise

Airdate: August 8, 2022

The summer of 2022 has been marked by major disruptions in air travel.

More than 120,000 flights have been cancelled since Memorial Day and one in five flights have been delayed.

Tim Edwards, Executive Director at Harrisburg International Airport appeared on Monday’s Smart Talk and surmised staffing shortages as the biggest culprit. He added that pilots, flight attendants and even air traffic controllers are all in short supply. Edwards said many people left the industry during the COVID-19 pandemic and haven’t returned or been replaced, even though airlines have increased salaries in some cases.

Edwards expects the situation to improve once more people are hired to fill the positions.

He said bad weather is behind some of the cancellations and delays but that the weather hasn’t been any worse this year compared to previous years — it’s just that with so many cancellations — weather has been cited more often.