Thousands of flights canceled over weekend as Omicron thins crews.
On one of the year’s busiest weekends for flying, airlines canceled thousands of flights as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus hit flight crews. The disruptions left thousands of travelers frustrated. In all, about 2,000 US flights were canceled on Saturday and Sunday of the Christmas holiday weekend, with roughly 3,000 more grounded globally, according to FlightAware, which provides aviation data. On Sunday alone, more than 1,100 US flights and about 1,700 additional ones across the world were canceled. While some of the groundings were caused by perennial problems like bad weather and maintenance issues, several airlines acknowledged that the current wave of Covid-19 cases, which has risen in the United States to a level not seen since last winter, contributed significantly. A JetBlue spokesman, for instance, said the airline had “seen an increasing number of sick calls from Omicron.” Eleven percent of JetBlue flights, 5% of Delta flights, 5% of United flights and 2% of American Airlines flights on Sunday had been canceled by the afternoon, according to FlightAware.<br/>Southwest canceled just 63 flights, or 1%, according to FlightAware, and the cancellations were caused entirely by weather, said Dan Landson, a Southwest spokesman. “We haven’t had any operational issues related to Covid,” he said. Traveling rebounded sharply this year, making the situation at airports worse: Roughly two million people passed through screening checkpoints each day last week, according to the TSA. The numbers on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were much higher than the equivalent figures last year, and some figures even exceeded those of the same days two years ago, when virtually no Americans were aware of a virus then beginning to circulate halfway around the world.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2021-12-27/general/thousands-of-flights-canceled-over-weekend-as-omicron-thins-crews
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Thousands of flights canceled over weekend as Omicron thins crews.
On one of the year’s busiest weekends for flying, airlines canceled thousands of flights as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus hit flight crews. The disruptions left thousands of travelers frustrated. In all, about 2,000 US flights were canceled on Saturday and Sunday of the Christmas holiday weekend, with roughly 3,000 more grounded globally, according to FlightAware, which provides aviation data. On Sunday alone, more than 1,100 US flights and about 1,700 additional ones across the world were canceled. While some of the groundings were caused by perennial problems like bad weather and maintenance issues, several airlines acknowledged that the current wave of Covid-19 cases, which has risen in the United States to a level not seen since last winter, contributed significantly. A JetBlue spokesman, for instance, said the airline had “seen an increasing number of sick calls from Omicron.” Eleven percent of JetBlue flights, 5% of Delta flights, 5% of United flights and 2% of American Airlines flights on Sunday had been canceled by the afternoon, according to FlightAware.<br/>Southwest canceled just 63 flights, or 1%, according to FlightAware, and the cancellations were caused entirely by weather, said Dan Landson, a Southwest spokesman. “We haven’t had any operational issues related to Covid,” he said. Traveling rebounded sharply this year, making the situation at airports worse: Roughly two million people passed through screening checkpoints each day last week, according to the TSA. The numbers on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were much higher than the equivalent figures last year, and some figures even exceeded those of the same days two years ago, when virtually no Americans were aware of a virus then beginning to circulate halfway around the world.<br/>
