According to Flightaware.com, at 7:30 p.m. GMT, more than 2,600 flights had been canceled around the world on Christmas Day, including some 929 to or from airports in the United States, adding to those suppressed at 2,231 on Thursday and The nearly 2,400 on Friday, a day on which 11,000 delays were also recorded.
According to the same website, by Sunday the cancellation of 900 flights has already been confirmed.
Many companies consulted by the AFP mentioned the new wave of the pandemic, which particularly affects crews, as the cause of the cancellations.
Pilots, flight attendants and other personnel reported sick or had to go into quarantine, forcing many airlines to cancel flights during one of the peak travel periods of the year.
Most of the flights had been scheduled before the appearance of omicron, more contagious than previous variants.
United Airlines, for example, canceled 439 flights on Friday and Saturday, 10% of those scheduled, according to Flightware.
“The peak in omicron cases across the country this week has had a direct impact on our crews and the people who run our operations,” said the company, which said it is seeking solutions for affected passengers.
Delta also canceled 300 flights on Saturday and about 170 on Friday, due to both omicron and adverse weather conditions, although to a lesser degree.
More than eleven Alaska Airlines flights were also canceled, some of whose employees said they had been “potentially exposed to the virus” and had to isolate themselves.
Chinese airlines accounted for the largest number of cancellations: China Eastern had canceled about 1,000 and Air China, 264, in both cases more than a fifth of its scheduled departures.
The cancellations added frustration to the pandemic, as many people were unable to reunite with their families for the holidays, following the heavy blow that the coronavirus dealt at Christmas 2020.
According to estimates by the American Automobile Association (AAA), more than 109 million Americans were expected to leave their area by plane, train or car between December 23 and January 2, an increase of 34% over the year. last.
But most of those vacation plans and family reunions were made before the appearance of the omicron variant, which has become dominant in the United States, overwhelming some hospitals and healthcare workers.
New York State announced on Friday that it had registered its record of new coronavirus cases in 24 hours with 44,431, amid a rebound in infections across the United States.
As for the weather, while unusually warm temperatures are registered in the eastern states, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned of a cold front with low temperatures that will affect the west.
“Abnormal cold conditions and a deluge of moisture from the Pacific lead to prolonged periods of snow in the mountains and rain on the coast and valleys, some of which can hit hard,” the NWS said in an advisory.
Between 24 and 48 inches of snow is expected to fall this weekend in the Northern and Central Sierra Mountains of California and Oregon.
Trips will be “treacherous and sometimes impossible” from the Sierras to the central Rocky Mountains over the weekend due to snow conditions, the NWS added.
Source From: Ambito
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