More than 2,000 flights canceled on New Years Day in US as Omicron cases rise

New York: It hasn’t been a good start to the year for the aviation industry as more than 2,000 flights were canceled on New Years Day as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus continued to disrupt airline operations during the holiday season in the United States, the IANS news agency reported. According to FlightAware, a flight tracking website, 2,311 flights entering, departing or within the United States were canceled at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, and another 424 flights were delayed.Also read – Gurugram and Faridabad movie theaters closed as Haryana imposes new COVID curbs. Details here

Southwest recorded the most cancellations among major U.S. carriers with 457 flights canceled at 7:30 a.m. ET. Meanwhile, nearly 190 American Airlines flights have been canceled in addition to 180 Delta flights and 142 United flights. JetBlue has canceled 118 flights and Spirit 91, reported the Xinhua News Agency. Also Read – International Flights: Dubai Makes Random RT-PCR Test Indispensable for Air Passengers. What does this mean for Indians?

“The disruption continued throughout the holiday week, stranding holiday travelers at airports across the country,” Fox Business reported. Major carriers such as Delta, United and JetBlue have all accused the Omicron variant of causing personnel issues which ultimately led to flight cancellations, according to the report. Earlier this week, a United spokesperson noted that it was not clear when normal operations would resume. Also Read – United States: Colorado Wildfires Burn Hundreds of Homes, Forcing Thousands to Evacuate

(With IANS entries)