Omicron ruins Christmas travel: Nearly 6,000 flights scrapped

HOLIDAY SPOILER Passengers hoping to catch family reunions over the weekend have had to cool their heels at John F. Kennedy International Airport after airlines announced the cancellation of numerous flights due to the Omicron coronavirus variant. —REUTERS

NEW YORK—Nearly 6,000 flights have been canceled worldwide over the long Christmas weekend and thousands more were delayed, a tracking website reported on Saturday, as the highly infectious Omicron variant brings holiday hurt to millions.

According to FlightAware.com, more than 2,620 flights were scrubbed around the globe on Saturday, including 929 originating from or headed to US airports, with 6,000 delays.

On Friday, there were around 2,400 cancellations and 11,000 delays, while Sunday cancellations have already approached 900.

Pilots, flight attendants and other employees have been calling in sick or having to quarantine after exposure to COVID, forcing Lufthansa, Delta, United Airlines, JetBlue, Alaska Airlines and many other short-staffed carriers to cancel flights during one of the year’s peak travel periods.

Nationwide spike

“Help @united flight cancelled again. I want to get home for Christmas,” one exasperated traveler from the US state of Vermont tweeted to the airline early on Saturday.

FlightAware data showed United canceled around 200 flights each day on Friday and Saturday, or 10 percent of those that were scheduled.

A scramble to reroute pilots and planes and reassign employees was under way, but Omicron’s surge has upended business.

“The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation,” United said in a statement on Friday.

“As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport,” the airline said.

Similarly, Delta scrapped 300 flights on Saturday and was already canceling several dozen more on Sunday, saying it has “exhausted all options and resources—including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying.”

“We apologize to our customers for the delay in their holiday travel plans,” the company said.

The cancellations added to the pandemic frustration for many people eager to reunite with their families over the holidays, after last year’s Christmas was severely curtailed.

Chinese airlines accounted for the highest number of cancellations, with China Eastern scrapping 1,000 flights, over 20 percent of its flight plan, on Friday and Saturday and Air China also grounding about 20 percent of its scheduled departures over the period.

Globally, FlightAware data showed that just over 2,700 flights were called off on Saturday and another 7,049 were delayed.

Among the most impacted US airports were Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International, New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International, Los Angeles International and New York’s John F. Kennedy International.

Not all airlines were affected equally. A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines said there were no issues to report with the carrier’s flights on Saturday.

Cautious note

The Omicron variant was first detected in November and now accounts for nearly three-quarters of US cases and as many as 90 percent in some areas, such as the Eastern Seaboard.

The average number of new US coronavirus cases has risen 45 percent to 179,000 per day over the past week, according to a Reuters tally.

While recent research suggests Omicron produces milder illness and a lower rate of hospitalizations than previous variants of COVID-19, health officials have maintained a cautious note about the outlook.

Ahead of the Christmas holiday, Americans scrambled for COVID-19 tests and many went ahead with their travel plans.

US officials have said that people who are fully vaccinated should feel comfortable proceeding with holiday travel. —REPORTS FROM AFP AND REUTERS