Passengers traveling over the Christmas holidays have experienced a worldwide upheaval after airlines canceled more than 4,500 flights, according to a flight tracking website.
The increase in cancellation on Christmas Eve and on Christmas Day came as the Omicron coronavirus, which spread rapidly, meant that carriers could not operate their planes.
FlightAware Airlines website has revealed that 2,175 flights worldwide have been canceled on Christmas Eve, the busiest day of travel. About a quarter of those were in the US. Another 1,779 planes were crashed around the world on Christmas Day, and another 402 were scheduled for Sunday.
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Most of the withdrawals came from five companies, China Eastern withdrew 474 flights, and Air China withdrew 188 flights. United canceled 177 flights, Air India 160 and Delta suspended 150 flights.
United said: “The nationwide rise in the Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight attendants and the people who carry out our work. As a result, we have unfortunately had to cancel certain flights and notify the affected customers before they arrive at the airport. ”
Meanwhile, Delta said it had “used all means and resources – including rescheduling and replacement of flights and staff to shut down scheduled flights – before canceling about 90 flights on Friday”. The airline has blamed the impact of Omicron’s variation on climate over cancellation.
In response to the pre-holiday riots, airlines have called for the relaxation of solitary confinement rules for vaccinated workers.
Delta chief executive Ed Bastian has called on the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reduce the isolation period from 10 to 5 days. American Airlines and JetBlue supported the request.
Airlines’ media outlets are full of frustrated passengers asking for help after the withdrawal period the night before Christmas due to the Omicron spread rapidly.
“@Delta really ?! Are you canceling my pre-Christmas flight at 12:30 am ?? I woke up at 2am to arrive at the airport with my baby and my husband and I don’t see any cancellation until I go to the airport to check my luggage,” said one passenger on Twitter at the airport. Friday – one of the same messages to carriers who had to stop flights.
Despite the uncertainty and tragic news around the world, millions of Americans have continued their plans to travel for a second season of flexible holidays.
Moses Jimenez, a bookkeeper from Long Beach, Mississippi, is on his way to New York with his wife and three children, although recent coronavirus cases have dashed their hopes of holding a Hamilton Broadway show or visiting a museum.
Hamilton was one of a dozen cancellations for the show this week as actors and crews were screened for Covid-19. Museums are scrambling for family travel because many now need proof of vaccination and two young children do not deserve to be shot.
Jimenez, 33, said his family would do their best to roam the city streets and parks, while seeing relatives and friends.
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“We wanted to get out of the house, in fact, take the kids out of town for Christmas,” Jimenez told Reuters on Thursday at New York’s LaGuardia airport.
New York plans to drastically reduce the number of people it admits to Times Square at its annual New Year’s Eve celebration, in response to an increase in new cases of coronavirus, including an attendance of 15,000.