Tonight, the July 4th holiday weekend is off to a hectic start, as the nation matches pre-pandemic travel numbers. Travel snags are causing major headaches nationwide. Airlines and passengers worry about potential horrors thanks to staff shortages and larger than expected crowds. Long lines and short tempers could ruin some Independent Day celebrations. Airlines are urging their customers to check their flight status before heading to the airports. So far today there have been more than five hundred cancellations and fifty-one hundred delays. Still, that’s kind of news because it’s fewer than we saw earlier this week. In Dallas, a Southwest Airline flight with a hundred and forty-one passengers on board with forced to abort because of a mechanic issue. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. Meanwhile, the roads and highways will be very busy. AAA tells us a record forty-two million Americans will drive to their holiday destinations.

Some Americans on their way right now to their hopefully enjoyable 4th of July destinations are getting there by car. And part of the reason is because where I’m standing has become almost a dreaded place. Tonight, airline delays and cancellations are adding up once again, which does not bode well for the weekend. The highways are humming, a record number of drivers are already enroute for the holiday, despite paying an average of $4.84 per gallon of the gas. Cars snaked around this Los Angeles gas station today, lured by a $50 gas giveaway as California’s new gas tax kicks in, adding three cents per gallon. One reason there are so many drivers this year, the poor state of airline service. Since Tuesday, more than two thousand flights have been canceled due to staffing shortages and weather.

:::tip hectic

• : : characterized by activity, excitement, or confusion 繁忙的

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