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Updated December 28th, 2021 at 07:39 IST

US: Omicron surge & storms hamper air travel for the 4th consecutive day

Flight cancellations hampered holiday travel which stretched into Monday, as airlines canceled over 1,000 flights in the United States amid the Omicron surge

Reported by: Anwesha Majumdar
Omicron
Image: AP | Image:self
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Amid the Omicron surge in the United States, flight cancellations had hampered holiday travel which stretched into Monday, as airlines canceled over 1,000 flights in the nation. 

For the four consecutive days, the cancellation of the flights took place due to employees being sick with the coronavirus disease during the time of one of the busiest travel periods of the year, as well as the US storms which contributed to the chaos. As per FlightAware, which records flight cancellations, airlines have canceled almost 4,000 flights to, from, or within the United States since Friday. 

This year has seen a lot of flight delays and cancellations due to airline personnel shortages, as per the Associated Press.  As air traffic dropped in 2020, airlines pushed workers to resign, and operators have battled to make up ground this year when air travel returned quickly than nearly everyone predicted. Further, the introduction of the Omicron strain has only added to the difficulty. 

John Grant, senior analyst at travel industry research firm OAG, "During the pandemic, we have seen experienced airline personnel leave the industry and not return across the globe. Filling those skill gaps was already a challenge in the recovery before the latest variant," the Associated Press reported. 

Meanwhile, when the new COVID-19 strain Omicron is included, however, airline staffing figures become "irrelevant," according to Atmosphere Research Group travel industry researcher Henry Harteveldt. 

Flight cancelations of the US airlines 

In recent days, US airlines such as Delta, United, JetBlue, and American have all accused the coronavirus disease of staffing issues. Furthermore, the holiday flights were also postponed by European and Australian airlines due to ill workers, although weather and other circumstances also played a part. 

According to Alaska Airlines, winter weather in the Pacific Northwest caused roughly 250 canceled flights to or from Seattle on Sunday, with over 100 flight cancellations anticipated on Monday. 

As the airlines' employees have been suffering from the COVID-19 infection, the United airline had canceled 115 flights out of over 4,000 scheduled on Monday. After canceling over 370 flights on Sunday due to the effects of COVID-19 on workers and winter weather in Minneapolis, Seattle, as well as Salt Lake City, Delta expects to cancel more than 200 flights out of its 4,100 scheduled flights.

The US govt air travel regulations

In addition to this, airline companies had asked the Biden administration to reduce the quarantine time period to help with staffing concerns created by Omicron, however, the flight attendants' union has resisted the proposal, arguing that the isolation period should be at least 10 days.

In recent months, the US government released additional laws pertaining to COVID-19 and travel, mandating foreign visitors to the US to be vaccinated. It also needs a negative COVID-19 test within one day of entering the nation for both U.S. citizens and visitors. 

Meanwhile, as per Worldometers, over 53,625,098 individuals have been affected by the disease in the nation since the outbreak, and more than 839,155 people have lost their lives due to Coronavirus. 

(Image: AP)

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Published December 28th, 2021 at 07:39 IST

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