6,300 flights canceled as Omicron hits Christmas weekend trips

More than 6,000 flights worldwide were canceled over the long Christmas weekend and thousands more delayed, according to a tracking website, as the highly infectious variant of Omicron causes holiday damage to millions.

Compounding the travel chaos in the United States, severe weather in the West will wreak havoc on highways and other routes there, though it may well bring a white Christmas weekend to the cities of Seattle and Portland, in the US Northwest

According to Flightaware.com, nearly 2,800 flights were canceled worldwide on Saturday, including more than 970 to or from US airports, with more than 8,000 delays as of 01:30 GMT.

On Friday there were approximately 2,400 cancellations and 11,000 delays, while Sunday cancellations have already exceeded 1,100.

Pilots, flight attendants and other employees have been saying they are sick or have had to quarantine after exposure to COVID-19, forcing Lufthansa, Delta, United Airlines, JetBlue, Alaska Airlines and many other short-staffed airlines to cancel flights during one of the years. peak travel periods.

“Help @united flight canceled again. I want to get home by Christmas,” an exasperated traveler from the US state of Vermont tweeted to the airline on Saturday morning.

Data from Flightaware showed United canceled about 200 flights on Friday and nearly 250 on Saturday, about 10 percent of those scheduled.

A fight was underway to reroute pilots and planes and reassign employees, but Omicron's rise has upended business.

How to change your attitude towards failure:"saying GOOD every time something goes wrong" and changing the focus f… https://t.co/ssSVbTGInU

— Andra Ionescu Thu Jul 22 12:05:59 +0000 2021

"The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation," United said in a statement on Friday.

“As a result, we have unfortunately had to cancel some flights and we are notifying affected customers before they arrive at the airport,” the airline said.

Similarly, Delta scrapped 310 flights on Saturday and was already canceling several dozen more on Sunday, saying it has "exhausted all options and resources, including rerouting and aircraft and crew substitutions to cover the flights." programmed”.

“We apologize to our customers for the delay in their vacation travel plans,” the company said.

The cancellations have added to pandemic frustration for many eager to reunite with their families for the holidays after last year's holiday gatherings were sharply reduced.

Chinese airlines accounted for the largest number of cancellations, with China Eastern scrapping more than 1,000 flights, more than 20 percent of its flight plan, on Friday and Saturday, and Air China also suspending around 20 percent of its scheduled departures during the period.

'Treacherous' Snow Conditions

According to estimates by the American Automobile Association, more than 109 million Americans were scheduled to travel by plane, train, or car between December 23 and December 2. January, an increase of 34 percent over last year.

But most of those plans were made before the outbreak of Omicron, which has become the dominant strain of coronavirus in the US, overwhelming some hospitals and health care workers.

New York state announced Friday that it recorded a record 44,431 new positive COVID-19 tests daily, while new cases also increased across the country.

On the weather front, as unusually warm temperatures were bathing eastern states, the National Weather Service (NWS) announced winter storm warnings, including a deep freeze for major parts of the west.

"Abnormally cold conditions and a barrage of moisture from the Pacific result in extended periods of mountain snow and coastal/valley rain, some of which can fall heavy at times," the NWS said in an advisory.

A staggering 24-48 inches (61-122 cm) of snow is forecast to fall this weekend, with heavier accumulation in some places, in the northern and central Sierra mountains of California and Oregon .

The journey will be "treacherous at times impossible" from the Sierras to the central Rocky Mountains over the weekend due to bleached snow conditions, the NWS added.