Us Airport Chaos Continues As More Than 2,600 Flights Cancelled

FlightAware says more than 2,600 US flights and nearly 4,600 worldwide were cancelled on Saturday.

Air travel continued to be severely disrupted in the United States on Saturday, with bad weather in parts of the country adding to the impact of a surge in COVID-19 infections fuelled by the Omicron variant.

The US had 2,604 cancelled flights, more than half of the 4,529 cancelled worldwide, shortly after 4:30pm (2130 GMT), according to tracking website FlightAware.

That is the highest single-day US toll yet since just before Christmas, when airlines began blaming staffing shortages on increasing COVID-19 infections among crews.

The worst affected US airline was Southwest, which had to cancel 450 flights nationwide or 13 percent of its flight schedule, according to the site.

American Airlines and Delta Air Lines scrubbed more than 200 flights each, and United Airlines canceled more than 150.

SkyWest, a regional carrier that operates flights under the names American Eagle, Delta Connection and United Express, grounded 480 flights, one-fourth of its schedule. A spokesperson blamed weather in the cities of Chicago, Denver and Detroit and COVID-19 illnesses.

Airports in Chicago were particularly hard-hit because of difficult weather, with a snowstorm expected in the area on Saturday afternoon and into the night.

More than 800 flights were scrubbed at O’Hare Airport and more than 250 at Midway Airport. Among international carriers, China Eastern scrubbed more than 500 flights, or about one-fourth of its total, and Air China canceled more than 200 flights, one-fifth of its schedule, according to FlightAware.

The global air travel industry is still reeling from the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Many pilots, flight attendants and other staff are absent from work after contracting COVID-19, or because they are quarantining after coming in contact with someone who has the infection. More than 12,000 US flights have been canceled since December 24.

Airlines say they are taking steps to reduce cancellations. United is offering to pay pilots triple or more of their usual wages for picking up open flights through most of January. Spirit Airlines reached a deal with the Association of Flight Attendants for double pay for cabin crews through Tuesday, said a union spokeswoman.

 

SOURCE  :   TIMES KUWAIT

 

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