The holiday season is going to be a very stressful holiday season

As airlines struggle with their operations after pandemic-related and other disruptions, analysts are predicting a stressful holiday period.

Thousands of Southwest and American Airlines customers were delayed in June, while in August, Spirit Airlines cancelled hundreds off their schedule. Most recently, Southwest Airlines experienced disruptions again this weekend, temporarily cancelling and delaying more than 2,000 flights.

Travel analysts told the Washington Post that an airline's ongoing problems would make Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year's trips very difficult for travellers.

I m concerned that it is going to be a very stressful holiday season when it comes to air travel, said Atmosphere Research Group's president Henry Harteveldt. It is already stressed with the potential for very crowded weather and of course, especially during Thanksgiving, very bad flights. Airlines are under such dramatic changes in customer travel patterns as Richard Aboulafia, an aviation analyst at Teal Group, explained: The industry has never done this before, he said. It has never expanded slant and contracted like this. He recommended that anyone who wants to travel over the next few months should plan for delays. Don t expect precision. Allow slack, he said.

Mr Aboulafia also advised sticking with carriers with the greatest share of flights in a region, to increase the chances of securing a place on another flight in the event of cancellation.

The other complicating factor for this season is that many airlines have imposed a vaccine mandate on staff which comes into effect December 8th, 2017. The US military personnel of American Airlines and JetBlue have been told they must be fully vaccinated by 24 November, the day before Thanksgiving.

How could the deadline for airlines not be worse: pilots have to wait after each dose before they can operate a flight, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. In addition, many pilots, especially Southwest s, are pushing back against the requirement altogether, meaning potential for short staffing problems in the near future.

Mike Boyd, president of aviation specialists Boyd Group International said Southwest's issues were specific to its own operations, but he also anticipated a painful travel season.

Consumers can look forward to the usual appalling chaos they re used to over the holidays, said he.