Storms Omicron Saw 6,000 US Flights Cancelled In One Weekend

Cancellations of flights into, out of and within the U.S. reached 2,679 Sunday along with 9,002 delays. That followed cancellations of more than 2,700 flights Saturday and at least 1,300 on Friday, which was New Year’s Eve.

Airlines greeted the New Year with more than 6,600 weekend cancellations in the U.S., closing out a bumpy holiday season as a winter storm swept eastward and carriers dealt with staff shortages caused by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.  Cancellations of flights into, out of and within the U.S. reached 2,679 Sunday along with 9,002 delays.That followed cancellations of more than 2,700 flights Saturday and at least 1,300 on Friday, which was New Year’s Eve.

Nearly 1,300 U.S. flights already dropped for Monday, it won’t be much easier for travelers attempting to return home after the bumpy holiday season.The busy travel period has been snarled by at least 13,000 canceled flights since Christmas Eve as record Covid-19 infections contribute to worker shortages at airports and in the cockpits.Delta Air Lines Inc. issued a travel waiver ahead of winter weather for Baltimore/Washington International and Washington, D.C.’s two airports, effective Jan. 2 through Jan. 7.

The tally of dropped flights topped almost 4,400 for Sunday. Robert Mann, a former American Airlines executive who is now a consultant, said there are about 115,000 flights a day globally during a peak travel period such as Christmas.In the Asia-Pacific region, about 3,700 flights were canceled over the weekend, led by China Eastern Airlines Corp. and Air China Ltd., as governments imposed stricter measures to curb the spread of Omicron. Some 970 flights are expected to be dropped in the region Monday.