Airlines are struggling through one of the most severe and persistent mass-cancellation events of the past decade, according to data compiled by FlightAware, after U.S. COVID-19 infections surged too quickly for carriers to manage without upending holiday travel, wreaking havoc on already-stretched airline workforces. Now carriers are assessing how to better manage what could continue to be a difficult period, at least for the next few weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported. Airlines have canceled more than 1,000 daily U.S. flights for 12 straight days, including over 2,000 on Thursday. Flights scrubbed from Christmas Eve through Jan. 5 exceeded 22,000, more than 7% of the number airlines had planned to fly, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking service. For airlines, the upheaval of the pandemic is heading into a new phase. Unlike in early 2020, when terrified passengers canceled trips in droves, new variants dent but don’t decimate appetite for travel. But airlines are still rebuilding their operations. The twin challenges of rising numbers of employees calling out sick after being infected or exposed to COVID-19, and a series of severe winter storms that hit major hubs from Seattle to Chicago to Washington, D.C., created the perfect conditions for travel chaos. (Subscription required.)
