Pete Buttigieg touts 10% fewer flight cancellations over 4th of July compared to Memorial Day
U.S. Transportation Secretary addressed travel turmoil on 'Your World' after hundreds of flight cancellations and delays persisted into the holiday weekend, displacing travelers.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg insisted on Tuesday that greedy oil companies and Russian President Vladimir Putin are to blame for the record-high gas prices, rejecting any assertion that policies implemented under the Biden administration impacted the rising energy costs.
During a contentious interview on "Your World," Fox News host Neil Cavuto noted that there has been no evidence of price-gouging by oil executives, despite Buttigieg and other members of the administration repeatedly accusing them of hiking up costs to profit off struggling Americans.
"Well, look, he one group of people that we see who are actually happy about what is happening with gas prices are oil company executives and owners," Buttigieg said. "We’ve seen them out there saying they’re not going to increase production. Why would they when they’re this profitable?"
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"Are you blaming the oil companies for this?" Cavuto asked pointedly.
Buttigieg said he supports Biden's "use it or lose it" provision intended to prevent oil and gas drillers from sitting indefinitely on federal leases without producing, as a federal means to hold "oil companies responsible for their choice not to produce."
Gas station prices in New Jersey sky-rocketing (Megan Myers/Fox News Digital) (Fox News )
"What I’m saying is, when it comes to these sky-high gas prices, drivers are mad about it, I’m mad about it. The president is mad about it. Oil companies are thrilled because this is good news for them. And I think when the incentives are that divided between them and the American people, it’s very important for Congress to do everything it can to ensure the consumers are protected. That’s all we’re saying with this use it or lose it idea," he said.
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The Transportation Secretary also placed blame on Russia's war in Ukraine, taking cues from the White House as they've repeatedly blamed the Russian leader to deflect from Biden's role in rising energy costs. Buttigieg made no mention of President Biden's cancellation of the planned Keystone XL pipeline.
Cavuto asked how the White House justifies blaming it "all on Ukraine" when 50% of the increase in gas prices started prior to the first Russian soldiers arriving in Ukrainian territory.
"What about the other half? That’s a pretty important half," Buttigieg fired back.
FILE - Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, center, speaks during a briefing at the White House in Washington, May 16, 2022. Buttigieg says he is pushing airlines to hire more customer-service people and take other steps to help travelers this summer. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File) (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
Buttigieg said it would be a "real mistake" to give Vladimir Putin and oil executives "a pass at a moment like this when they might be the only people in the country who are perfectly happy with the gas price environment we’re living with today."
When Cavuto pressed again whether the administration would acknowledge that "it is not just the Putin gas tax hike" responsible for the skyrocketing gas prices, Buttigieg, visibly agitated, shot back.
"It’s not just anybody, it’s not just any one factor. That’s my whole point. A lot of things are going on," he said.
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"I feel like we’ve presented multiple reasons," he added. "One of them clearly is Putin’s war of aggression. You have a country that goes to war that is affecting markets. We think the behavior of oil companies is another reason…."
Earlier in the interview, Cavuto asked Buttigieg about his plan to address travel disruptions after hundreds of flight cancellations and delays persisted into the holiday weekend as airlines struggle to keep up with pre-pandemic travel numbers.
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Buttigieg touted 10% fewer flight cancelations over July 4th compared to Memorial Day, but acknowledged that the cancellation rate is still "higher than it should be."
Travelers wait in a check-in line at Miami International Airport, Monday, Dec. 27, 2021, in Miami. Thousands of flights worldwide were canceled or delayed on Monday, as airline staffing shortages due to the rapid spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19 continued to disrupt the busy holiday travel season. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
"We're going to continue using our consumer protection enforcement authority to make sure when that does happen to passengers, that they’re properly compensated as well as looking at the operational side to make sure that the number of delays and cancellations go down because It’s not yet at a level that I consider acceptable," he said.
Buttigieg said his office is investigating whether airlines are sufficiently demonstrating that they could service their routes. He also expressed his commitment to making sure attentive and easily accessible customer service care is provided to those whose flights are delayed or canceled on short notice.