American travelers were warned that Summer 2019 would be the worst one in ages. A record 2.8 million people were expected to fly every day, inconvenienced by the grounding of Boeing’s 737 Max and transfer of hundreds of Homeland Security officials from airport security lines to the overrun southern border.

For American Airlines, the “Summer from Hell” is even more hellish thanks to a labor dispute. Not only are executives sweating over whether they will strike a deal with their mechanics’ union, they’re also smarting from what they say was a deliberate slowdown by the protesting mechanics.