Air travel in the summer of 2022 has been a frustrating one for many passengers at San Diego International Airport.
Delays, cancellations, and lost luggage are some complaints passengers lodged against airlines.
On Thursday, a security breach at San Diego International Airport added to the record frustration. A passenger bypassed the security checkpoint area which triggered an evacuation of Terminal 2 and delays.
“All of a sudden, they said, well you all need to get your luggage and get off the plane and get out of the airport but it wasn't really clear that we actually had to leave the airport,” Traveler Cynthia P. Garrett said.
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Garrett said overall, she believes TSA handled the situation well and she observed many travelers saying the same thing.
Travelers looking ahead to the rest of the summer travel season are optimistic it will be better than the previous months.
“We’ve had some friends that have had worse experiences than us with bags getting lost and flights getting delayed but overall, for us it has been pretty smooth,” Jesse Matthews said.
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Matthews and his friend Arielle Ramos explained that his friends were one of many travelers whose luggage was lost during their travels.
“We have two friends, and we went to Iceland together and the first two nights, they didn’t have any luggage, so they had to go shopping and spend a bunch of money. It’s tough with no toiletries, so it’s hard –- they had to just wait until the airline sent it to their hotel,” Ramos said.
Travel experts hear the frustration of passengers, but stress it is important to keep the numbers in perspective.
“I think what's important is to think about the numbers. It seems really daunting everywhere you look, you see stories of people getting delayed or canceled, but the numbers are a little bit more conservative than what it seems like. So, the numbers I've been seeing is about 25% of flights this year through July have been delayed and the number for cancelations is just about a 3%,” Expedia Travel Expert Christie Hudson said.
Travel experts are optimistic that the summer travel season winding down will make air travel smoother.
“There is some good news and that is that with summer ending, and the busiest travel season kind of winding down, travelers can expect for things to get a little bit better with less people on planes and at airports. That makes it easier for the airlines to accommodate the capacity and make sure that they are providing the best, least interrupted service that they can,” Hudson said.
The Department of Transportation issued a warning to airlines that they need to come up with their own improvements for customer service or the agency will proceed with a plan to order a rule change.
The department announced they will be creating a website, eyed for a launch two weeks from now, that it hopes will easily show each airline’s policies regarding cancellations and delays.
