No pillows, no cups: Supply woes add to airlines’ flight issues

It’s not just a pilot shortage that’s limiting US airlines’ operations and disrupting countless flights. Sometimes, there aren’t enough pillows.

American Airlines Group Inc. and some other carriers are struggling with supply-chain challenges that have left them short of everything from food to drinking cups to, yes, pillows. That’s causing additional headaches for airlines as they struggle to get supply lines disrupted by the pandemic “all back in sync,” American Chief Executive Officer Robert Isom said Thursday.

“Not a day goes by where we don’t have issues with provisioning our airplanes with pillows, blankets, plastic cups, food,” he said on a conference call to discuss quarterly results. “At various times we have issues with fueling, concessionaires at the airport. It’s just a myriad of things that all have to come together to put an aircraft in the air.”

United Airlines Holdings Inc. says it’s faced staffing shortages at some airports and “we don’t get everything we want all the time” when it comes to onboard food. But there hasn’t been an impact to flights, said Chief Financial Officer Gerry Laderman. 

American, United and Delta Air Lines Inc. are all limiting flying for the rest of this year, and some into 2023, as the industry tries to curb flight disruptions caused in part by labor shortages and higher costs. Demand and ticket prices have surged back after the worst of the pandemic, and carriers reported record second-quarter revenue. 

“Aviation touches just a broad swath of the economy, and we need it all to get back to working very well,” Isom said.