Flight cancellations continue due to bad weather, sick crews

NEW YORK – Flight cancellations that disrupted vacation travel continued until Monday, with major U.S. airlines each canceling dozens of flights.

Staff calling sick from COVID-19, especially since the emergence of the omnicron variant, have left airlines short in recent days. According to FlightAware, which tracks flight cancellations, airlines have canceled about 4,000 flights to, from or within the United States since Friday.

Delta, United, JetBlue and American have all said the coronavirus is causing staff problems, and European and Australian airlines have also canceled holiday season flights because staff were infected, but the weather and others factors also played a role.

Winter weather conditions in the Pacific Northwest led to nearly 250 cancellations of flights to or from Seattle on Sunday, Alaska Airlines said, and the airline expects more than 100 flight cancellations on Monday. But he says the crew calling sick from COVID-19 is no longer a factor.

United said it canceled 115 flights on Monday, out of more than 4,000 scheduled, due to crews with COVID-19.

Flight delays and cancellations linked to staff shortages have been a constant problem this year. Airlines urged workers to quit in 2020 when air travel collapsed, and were short-staffed this year as air travel rebounded faster than almost everyone expected.

Airlines have called on the Biden administration to shorten the guidelines for the isolation period for vaccinated workers who receive COVID-19, to address staff shortages. The flight attendants union opposed this, saying the isolation period should remain for 10 days.