U.S. travel over the opening long weekend around the Fourth of July national holiday is expected to surpass that of the pre-pandemic 2019 year.

However, travelers across the country are facing hundreds of canceled and thousands of delayed flights, as was the case earlier in the week, the Associated Press reported. 

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The Transportation Security Administration screened more than 2.4 passengers at U.S. airports Thursday, or a 17 percent increase from the same day before the 2019 holiday. 

US air traffic is likely to hit a post-Covid-19 pandemic record at least once this weekend. 

Highway traffic will also be heavy.

Nearly 48 million people are projected to travel at least 50 miles from home, down slightly from 2019 numbers.

Car travel is expected to set a record despite an average gas price of nearly $5 (per gallon or 3.78 liters). 

Pleasure travel has rebounded sharply this year, and that means particularly large crowds on long weekends. 

With many flights already sold out, airlines will struggle to find seats for passengers whose flights have been cancelled. 

As of late Friday afternoon, 500 flights had been canceled on the US East Coast and another 1,500 were delayed, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware.

Given the occasional thunderstorms in the New York City area, the number is likely to increase. 

Federal agencies are blaming each other for what is happening, and passengers are caught in the middle, AP notes.  

Airlines could still probably carry more passengers if they had enough staff.

However, many US carriers scaled back their summer schedules after bad weather, delays and understaffing led to widespread flight cancellations over the late May long weekend around Memorial Day. 

Carriers paid thousands of employees to quit in the early days of the pandemic, when air travel collapsed and revenue dried up.

Recently they are hiring again, but it takes time to train pilots, of which there is a severe shortage. 

Airlines are now competing for employees with key skills and are offering double-digit pay raises to pilots who find themselves in a favorable position to negotiate new contracts. 

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