stranded by canceled flights. the representative of the pilots union. if mother nature hits, failing to connect us to the flights, you have headlines. reporter: 1,800 flight attendants just returned from leaves of absence. they re paying time and a half for working this week. 14,000 pilots say it is not enough and turned down a similar offer to send a message. it s incredibly frustrating. we don t see the structural changes happening. reporter: airlines insist they are out of the woods and are ready for their biggest test of the pandemic. through all the challenges we faced, it s just made us a bit more agile in dealing with issues that come up. we are more prepared when we get to the holiday season. reporter: the numbers today will be big. tomorrow will be even bigger. the tsa says the sunday after