Pilot shortages and increasing travel demand are causing backups at major airports. The solution may be as simple as using bigger planes.

• Airlines are putting passengers on bigger planes, as a pilot shortage and congestion at major airports continues. 
• In the aviation industry, executives call it "upgauging." 
• But as airlines abandon some regional flight routes, some say smaller communities will be harmed.  

Demand for travel is on the rise in the US despite an ongoing pilot shortage, causing chaos and congestion at airports around the country. But there may be a simple solution — flying bigger planes.