Scenes of confusion appeared over the weekend as Southwest Airlines canceled scores of flights, along with over a thousand delays each day. Southwest blamed air traffic control problems and disruptive weather along with staffing issues in Florida. The Federal Aviation Administration says issues related to traffic control or staffing only happened for a few hours Friday night. This comes as Dr. Anthony Fauci says he doesn’t think there'll be vaccine mandates for domestic flights—at least not in the near future.
Hundreds of thousands of members of the U.S. military remain unvaccinated as the Pentagon’s vaccine mandate deadlines approach. According to a review of data published in Sunday’s Washington Post, the rate of COVID-19 vaccination among the armed services varies a great deal. Still, the Pentagon believes that as deadlines approach, the vast majority of U.S. service members will carry out their orders to be vaccinated.
The national average price for gas hits a seven-year high as energy demand returns. AAA reports the average for unleaded gas is $3.27 a gallon—up seven cents in the past week alone. Natural gas prices are also up. On Monday, crude was on track to finish above $80 a barrel for the first time in seven years.
Tune into Deep Dive as we explore these topics and more.
