Holiday Travel Impacted By Canceled Flights Over The Weekend

Miami FL

27 December, 2021

9:59 AM

Description

A Miami Times Staff Report, the Miami Times Dec 24, 2021 Holiday travel just got more painful. More than 2,000 flights were cancelled globally Friday and nearly 1,300 on Saturday, according to Flightaware. For the United States, the number is around 454 flights either arriving or departing domestically on Friday. The reason behind the cancellations is airline staff calling out due to current surge of the omicron variant. United Airlines has cancelled 175 flights for Dec. 24 and another 69 flights on Christmas Day. In a prepared statement from United, "The nationwide spike in omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation. As a result, we've unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport." United wasn't alone in the mass cancellations. Delta Airlines also 145 flights for Christmas Eve and 111 on Christmas. Delta in statement said the cancellations were related to staff shortages due to illness callouts and the possibility of inclement weather expected over the holiday. International carriers also are faced with staff shortages due to illness. German carrier Lufthansa cancelled a dozen transatlantic flights because of sick leave being taken by pilots. At least half of the cancellations are with Chinese based airlines. So as is always the case, but especially so these next few days, check with your airline before heading to the airport. The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.