Number of canceled flights reaches 7,000 over Christmas weekend

More than 7,000 flights were canceled worldwide during the long Christmas weekend due to the accelerated spread of the Covid-19’s omicron variant, which particularly affects airline crews.

Europe is currently the region with the most cases, with more than three million in the last seven days, 57% of the world total, as well as the highest number of deaths, followed by the United States and Canada (1.4 million new infections).

France surpassed the milestone of 100,000 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours on Christmas Saturday, an unprecedented number. The government will assess the situation at a meeting on Monday.

Flightaware’s latest report reports nearly 2,000 flight cancellations this Sunday, including more than 570 related to the United States – international or domestic travel.

On Saturday, the same site registered nearly 2,800 flight cancellations, 970 related to the United States.

As of Friday, cancellations approached 2,400 in addition to 11,000 delayed flights, according to Flightaware.

Many airlines were forced to quarantine pilots, flight attendants and other employees after the workers were exposed to Covid. Lufthansa, Delta and United Airlines canceled several flights.

According to Flightaware, United Airlines had to cancel 439 flights on Friday and Saturday, nearly 10% of scheduled trips.

“The spike in omicron cases across the country this week has had a direct impact on our crews and the people who run our operations,” the US company said in a statement, in which it said it was seeking solutions for affected passengers.

Delta Air Lines canceled 310 flights on Saturday and 170 on Friday, also according to Flightaware, which cites omicron as the main reason for the problem and, to a lesser extent, adverse weather conditions.

“Delta’s teams exhausted all options and remedies before setting cancellations,” the company said.

Eleven Alaska Airlines flights were canceled after some of its employees reported they were “potentially exposed to the virus” and initiated a lockdown.

Blizzards and heavy rains

Weather conditions contributed to flight cancellations.

In the western region of the United States, the weather forecasts snow storms and a significant drop in temperatures, which will further complicate an already chaotic situation.

But cities like Seattle and Portland managed to enjoy Christmas with snow.

“Abnormal cold conditions and an influx of moisture from the Pacific will result in prolonged periods of blizzards and rainfall,” the US National Weather Service (NWS) said.

Chinese airlines accounted for the highest number of cancellations: China Eastern canceled almost 540 flights, more than 25% of the scheduled total, while Air China canceled 267, which means almost 25% of planned departures.

The cancellations represent a heavy blow to the long-awaited resumption of travel at the holiday season, after Christmas 2020, which was heavily affected by the pandemic.

In the United States, according to estimates by the American Automobile Association (AAA), more than 109 million Americans were expected to leave their area of ​​residence by plane, train or car between December 23 and January 2, an increase of 34% over to last year.

The cancellations did not affect Santa’s travels, monitored for decades by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad), which registered 7,623,693,263 gifts distributed this year.

Norad claims he monitors Santa’s sleigh thanks to a sensor placed in the nose of one of the reindeers.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused 5.3 million deaths worldwide since the World Health Organization (WHO) reported the disease’s emergence in late December 2019 in China.

The Chinese city of Xi’an, where the 13 million people are in confinement, announced on Sunday a “total” disinfection and even tougher restrictions, as the country recorded the highest number of cases (206) in just one. day in 21 months.