Omicron Variant Causes Spike In Infections, More Than 1,000 US Flights Cancel Over Christmas Weekend

Airport illustration. (Unsplash/Chuttersnap)

JAKARTA - United States airlines canceled more than 1,000 flights on Sunday, as crews were grounded amid soaring COVID-19 infections, causing misery for thousands of Christmas travelers.

Commercial airlines had canceled 1,001 flights into, into, or out of the United States as of the afternoon, according to a tally on flight-tracking website FlightAware.com.

It was the third straight day of travel pain and further cancellations are likely as COVID-19 infections soared, fueled by the highly contagious variant of Omicron.

A total of 997 flights were canceled on Christmas Day and nearly 700 on Christmas Eve. Thousands more were delayed for three days.

Enjoli Rodriguez, 25, whose Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to Lexington, Kentucky, was canceled on Christmas Eve due to COVID-related staff shortages, was one of the thousands still stranded on Sunday.

Delta rescheduled Rodriguez on a connecting afternoon flight in Detroit, but the flight was delayed by hours so he missed the connection to Lexington.

Speaking from Detroit airport on Sunday, Rodriguez said he was surrounded by angry passengers, confused airline representatives, and families with young children in limbo as several flights were canceled or delayed.

"I meet a lot of people who share their horror stories here. We're all just stuck in Michigan, Detroit, going to different places," Rodriguez told Reuters as quoted December 27.

Illustration of an airline. (Wikimedia Commons/lasta29)

He was rescheduled on his onward flight to Kentucky which he hoped would end his life. sleepless, traveling for days.

The Christmas holidays, usually the peak time for travel, coincided with the rapid deployment of the Omicron variant.

Infections have risen sharply in many parts of the country, with the New York state department of health warning Friday that it recorded a fourfold increase in COVID-19 hospital admissions for children under 18 since the week starting December 5.

Due to the spike in infections, airlines have been forced to cancel flights with pilots and cabin crew needing to be quarantined. Bad weather in some areas also contributed to the problem.

"Winter weather in parts of the US and Omicron variants continue to affect Delta holiday weekend flight schedules," an airline spokesman said in an emailed statement, adding it was working to "reroute and change aircraft and crew to get customers where they need to be." as quickly and safely as possible."

Separately, a White House official, who asked not to be named, said despite the chaos at some airports, "we are in a better place than last Christmas" and noted that "only a small percentage of flights were affected."

"But any cancellations could disrupt and delay reunions with family and friends, so the Department of Transportation and the FAA are monitoring this closely," the official said, referring to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Globally, FlightAware data shows that 2,617 flights were canceled and more than 10,500 delayed, as of 3:41 pm. EST (2041 GMT) on Sunday.

Meanwhile, United Airlines had to cancel about 100 flights as of Sunday, a spokesman said, adding that the company was working to rebook affected passengers.

"Importantly, the 25 customers whose journeys were disrupted were able to rebook flights that would allow them to reach their final destination earlier than they should have," said a United spokesperson for Maddie King in an email.

Winter weather is another factor that negatively affects flights. A spokesman for Southwest Airlines said all of their cancellations were weather-related.

The US airports most affected by the cancellations were Seattle, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas-Fort Worth, and JFK International in New York.

To note, the Omicron variant was first detected in November and now accounts for nearly three-quarters of cases in the US and as much as 90% in some areas, such as the Eastern Seaboard. The average number of new coronavirus cases in the US has risen 45% to 179,000 per day over the past week, according to a Reuters tally.

While recent research suggests Omicron results in milder illness and lower hospitalization rates than previous iterations, health officials have maintained a cautious view and say there is still much to learn about the variant.