Thousands of flights canceled as travel chaos threatens Fourth of July weekend

Severe weather, staffing issues and record-high numbers of summer travelers strain country's airline industry

Americans may have to put their weekend celebrations on hold. Travelers in the US faced a chaotic week leading up to the Fourth of July weekend as soaring flight delays and cancellations were seen across the country.

From Monday through Wednesday, at least 28,000 flights were delayed each day, and at least 1,200 were canceled, with Monday and Tuesday seeing about 2,200 cancellations each, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) forecast 29 June would be the busiest day for air travel during the summer, with 52,564 scheduled flights. By 1pm ET on Thursday, over 19,000 flights across the country had been delayed and 1,160 had been cancelled, according to FlightAware.