Travel
Hundreds of Christmas Eve flights cancelled in U.S. as omicron variant impacts industry
A surge in COVID-19 cases among airline workers led to nearly 500 canceled flights across the U.S. and over 2,000 worldwide.
According to the airline tracking website FlightAware, 479 flights within, into or out of the U.S. have been cancelled on Christmas Eve.
United Airlines has cancelled 173 flights; Delta, 143; JetBlue, 54; Spirit, 11; and American, 10. Southwest has yet to report any cancellations. More than 5,000 flights worlwide have experienced delays, 751 of them within, into or out of the U.S.
The omicron variant, the dominant coronavirus variant currently infecting people in the U.S., is being blamed for much of the staffing shortages. Bad weather in certain locations also is leading to cancellations.
Delta Air Lines said it exhausted “all options and resources” to cover scheduled flights, The New York Times reported.
Allegiant and other airlines have also cancelled flights.
Christmas Day flights also are being cancelled, with 222 so far within, into, or out of the U.S. and more than 1,200 worlwide.
This article was originally posted on Hundreds of Christmas Eve flights cancelled in U.S. as omicron variant impacts industry
