America's great reopening is encountering some turbulence

Everything is opening at the same time and people are desperate to travel. As concerts resume, theme parks open, families reunite, lovers tie the knot and stir-crazy Americans dream of vacation, airlines that had to hurriedly recommission fleets are struggling to keep up: American Airlines cancelled 188 of flights over the weekend and is trimming hundreds more in the coming summer travel season. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby warned on Sunday of a longer-term problem filling cockpits because the US military is training fewer pilots as it scales back global wars.

Security screeners processed 2.1 million people in US airports on Sunday — the most since March 7, 2020, before the Covid-19 curse struck. Flying itself, never a pleasant experience in the post-9/11 era, is now even less fun. Apart from mask wearing on board, there's been a spate of mid-air scuffles as travelers' tempers flare as they cram back into aluminum tubes again.

The airline industry isn't alone in encountering turbulence as the US transitions from sheltering from the coronavirus to learning to live with it. The economy, though recovering, is uneven. Many industries, especially in the hospitality sector, can't find enough staff. A crime wave has gotten so bad that President Joe Biden plans to address it this week. Extreme drought in the West threatens to spark a disastrous wildfire season and worsen late-stage pandemic dislocation. And fierce political divides were only widened by a virus uniquely able to inflame cultural fault lines.

It's not quite what Biden bargained for when he planned a national July 4 party to declare freedom from Covid-19. The "Roaring 20s" will have to wait a while.