New report blames airlines for most flight cancellations

By DAVID KOENIG
AP Airlines Writer

Congressional investigators say airlines themselves are responsible for a rising percentage of canceled flights — more often than before the pandemic, when bad weather was the most common problem. The Government Accountability Office said Friday that most of the increase in flight cancellations during the travel recovery has been due to things airlines can control. That includes cancellations for maintenance issues, or because there wasn’t a crew available. Much of the increase in airline-caused cancellations has happened at low-fare airlines, but the biggest carriers are also causing a higher percentage of their own cancellations, according to government data.