Hundreds of flights were cancelled yesterday as the omicron variant creates havoc both for travelers and for airlines that are having to cobble together flight crews as pilots, flight attendants and ground crews become infected or are exposed to others who have been, the Associated Press reported. More than 850 flights were cancelled by midday yesterday and that number has ticked higher throughout the day, according to data from the flight-tracking website FlightAware. There were nearly 1,300 cancellations for flights entering, leaving or inside the U.S. Tuesday, and about 1,500 on Monday. Cancellations began to spike the day before Christmas during what is already a buzzing pace for airlines this time of year. Delta, United and JetBlue have all said that the omicron variant was causing enough staffing issues that flights were cancelled. SkyWest led U.S. carriers with 195 cancellations, followed by United with 158 and Delta with 103. SkyWest, a regional airline based in Utah, has suffered an elevated level of cancellations after severe weather hit several of its hubs, but it’s reporting the same staffing issues due to COVID-19.
