Coronavirus: Hundreds more flights canceled as airlines grapple with omicron, weather

Airlines on Monday morning canceled more than 2,500 flights globally, including nearly 1,000 in, to or from the United States, following a busy holiday travel weekend that saw thousands of cancellations at airports across the U.S.

>> Read more trending news

As of 12:30 p.m. Monday, officials had canceled over 985 flights in, to or out of the U.S. while nearly 2,700 other flights were delayed, according to a tally from flight tracking site FlightAware. Globally, more than 8,100 flights were delayed, FlightAware reported.

The cancellations Monday came on top of nearly 3,000 reported for flights in, to or from the U.S. beginning on Christmas Eve. On Friday, about 700 flights were canceled, while nearly 1,000 more were canceled on Christmas Day and over 1,500 were canceled Sunday, according to FlightAware.

>> Related: Coronavirus: United, Delta, JetBlue and others cancel Christmas Day flights

Officials said over the weekend that the cancellations stemmed from weather issues, as well as the impact of growing COVID-19 cases on flight crews. In a statement posted online Sunday, officials with Delta Air Lines said they were forced to cancel hundreds of flights beginning Friday due to “the circumstances of weather and the omicron variant.”

As of 12:30 p.m., more than 75 of the airline’s flights had been canceled for the day while over 350 others were delayed, according to FlightAware.

>> Related: Coronavirus: Thousands of flights canceled globally amid omicron surge

On Sunday, officials with Alaska Airlines said wintry conditions in the Pacific Northwest were “creating a bah-humbug for our operations to and from Seattle, including flight cancellations and delays.” As of 12:30 p.m., Alaska had canceled over 130 flights, amounting to 19% of its schedule, while more than 110 others were delayed.

Officials with United Airlines also reported more than 90 flight cancellations, amounting to about 4% of its schedule. Last week, officials said in a statement to The New York Times that the omicron variant’s “direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation” prompted the airline to cancel dozens of flights.

>> Related: Omicron projected to cause more COVID-19 infections, fewer hospitalizations, analysts say

As of early Monday afternoon, American Airlines reported just over 80 cancellations, 2% of its schedule, while JetBlue Airways reported nearly 70 flight cancellations, or 6% of its schedule, and Southwest Airlines reported 50 cancellations, or 1% of its schedule, according to FlightAware.

The cancellations come as officials with the Transportation Security Administration see millions of holiday travelers at airports nationwide.

In the last week, officials reported screening 13.6 million travelers through TSA airport checkpoints, nearly double the number of passengers screened during the same time period last year. In 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic disrupted airline travel nationwide, nearly 16.6 million people traveled through TSA checkpoints for the Christmas holiday, according to officials.

©2021 Cox Media Group