The Covid-19 seems to be a real headache for the flight companies as hundreds of flights have been canceled just ahead of Christmas, multiple sources reported.
According to reports, United Airlines has been forced to cancel 121 flights on Christmas Eve which is equivalent to 6% of their overall flight schedule.
The main reason for the cancellations is because serious number of United Airlines’ staff is infected with Covid-19, or more specifically, with the Omicron variant of the virus that is already the major variant across the country in terms of new Covid-19 cases.
For a flight from Denver to Newark scheduled for Friday, for example, the following message is shown on the United Airlines website: “Your flight is canceled due to an increase in Covid cases limiting crew availability. We’re sorry for disrupting your holiday plans and for the inconvenience.”
United Airlines spokesperson also confirmed that multiple flights were canceled due to omicron variant.
“The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation. As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport. We’re sorry for the disruption and are working hard to rebook as many people as possible and get them on their way for the holidays,” the spokesperson said.
However, United Airlines is not the only company facing this issue. Reportedly, Delta Air Lines was also forced to cancel tens of flights due to Omicron.
The information was also confirmed by company’s spokesperson who said that 90 flights were canceled on Friday.
“Delta teams have exhausted all options and resources — including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying — before canceling around 90 flights for Friday. We apologize to our customers for the delay in their holiday travel plans. Delta people are working hard to get them to where they need to be as quickly and as safely as possible on the next available flight,” the spokesperson said. “Flight cancellations are due to a combination of issues, including but not limited to, potential inclement weather in some areas and the impact of the Omicron variant.”
For now, no new cancellations were reported, but it seems that many people might not reach their homes for Christmas because of the newly discovered and high transmissible Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus.