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Airlines cancel hundreds of Christmas Eve flights as Covid hits cabin crew


A traveler wearing a protective mask waits to board a United Airlines flight at San Francisco International Airport, October 15, 2020.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | beautiful pictures

Airlines have canceled thousands of Christmas Eve flights around the world as Covid hits cabin crew.

More than 2,300 flights have been canceled worldwide, more than 600 of which are US flights. United Airlines According to flight tracking website FlightAware, it canceled more than 170 flights on Friday, about 10% of its schedule.

United said in a statement on Thursday: “The spike nationally in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our fleet and the people running our operations. “. “As a result, we have unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying affected customers in advance of their arrival at the airport.”

The disruption comes after airline executives said they expect some of their busiest days since the pandemic began over the year-end holidays, despite a surge in Covid infections. , due to the omicron variation. The Transportation Security Administration tested nearly 2.2 million people on Thursday, up from 846,500 but shy of more than 2.5 million who passed through TSA checkpoints two years earlier, before the pandemic Translate.

United said it was trying to re-register as many tourists as possible. It announced most of the cancellations a day earlier.

US airline executives this week asked Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials to loosening quarantine guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals who test positive for Covid up to five days from the current 10th, citing potential staff shortages and flight disruptions. The CDC loosens guidance for healthcare workers on Thursday.

Delta canceled more than 160 flights, or 8% of its schedule, on Friday, citing bad weather in Salt Lake City and the Seattle area, two of its hubs, and the impact of the omicron variation. spread fast. Delta canceled more than 170 flights Saturday while United canceled more than 130. JetBlue Airways canceled more than 70 flights on Friday, about 7% of its daily operations.

“Delta teams exhausted all options and resources – including rerouting and replacing aircraft and crews to take on scheduled flights – before canceling about 90 flights on Friday. “, the airline said in a statement. “We apologize to our customers for the delay in their holiday travel plans. Delta’s people are working hard to get them where they need to be as quickly and safely as possible on a flight possible. next use.”

Airlines say more than 90% of Delta employees and more than 96% of US employees have been vaccinated.

Delta and United flight disruptions are much less than mass cancellation Some airline customers face this summer and fall as carriers include American and Southwest struggling with staff shortages and bad weather.

Both of those airlines offer additional staff compensation work peak holiday trips and meet attendance goals. Southwest only canceled one flight on Friday and American had 11 flights, according to FlightAware.

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