Thousands of flights canceled, delayed at start of workweek

2 years ago 290

FILE - Travelers beryllium astatine a gross astatine Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Nov. 20, 2018, successful Linthicum, Md. A wintertime tempest moving into the mid-Atlantic combined with the pandemic to proceed frustrating aerial travelers whose instrumentality flights location from the holidays were canceled oregon delayed successful the archetypal fewer days of the caller year. More than 1,900 U.S. flights and much than 3,300 worldwide were grounded arsenic of aboriginal Monday, Jan. 3, 2022 according to tracking work FlightAware. That follows Sundays cancellations of much than 2,600 U.S. flights, and much than 4,400 worldwide. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, file) (Patrick Semansky, Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A wintertime tempest that deed the mid-Atlantic connected Monday combined with pandemic-caused shortages of hose workers to propulsion formation cancellations to a holiday-season high, creating much vexation for travelers conscionable trying to get home.

More than 3,000 U.S. flights and astir 4,700 worldwide were canceled by precocious day Monday connected the East Coast, according to tracking work FlightAware. Another 12,500 flights were delayed, including 5,600 successful the U.S.

Travelers could instrumentality anticipation from an improving upwind forecast: Airlines had canceled less than 400 U.S. flights scheduled for Tuesday.

First, however, they had to contend with a winter storm that dumped respective inches of snowfall connected the District of Columbia, bluish Virginia and cardinal Maryland earlier quitting Monday afternoon.

The cancellations and delays conscionable added to the despair felt implicit the play by holidays travelers trying to get home.

On societal media, travelers complained astir precocious cancellations, mislaid bags and agelong clasp times to scope anybody successful hose lawsuit service. Some said they slept successful airports and didn't cognize erstwhile they would get home.

With the dispersed of the highly transmissible omicron variant, the seven-day rolling mean for regular caller cases of COVID-19 successful the U.S. has tripled implicit the past 2 weeks and topped 400,000 connected Sunday, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

The toll of grounded flights successful the U.S. was successful the fewer hundreds per time the week earlier Christmas, past soared past 1,000 a day, arsenic airlines blamed unit shortages caused by the virus.

For respective days, airlines and their passengers lucked retired with mostly favorable weather, but a wintertime tempest that deed the Midwest connected Saturday caused cancellations to spike again to caller holiday-season highs.

Over the weekend, astir 5,400 U.S. flights were canceled — astir 12% of each scheduled flights — and much than 9,000 worldwide, according to FlightAware. By Monday afternoon, astir 18,000 U.S. flights had been canceled since Christmas Eve.

Many of the cancellations were made hours oregon adjacent a time successful advance. Airline judge they person a amended accidental to support lighter schedules connected track, and it saves passengers from making needless trips to the airport.

More than three-quarters of Monday's scheduled flights astatine Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and astir fractional of those astatine adjacent Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport were scrubbed, according to FlightAware. Both airports received much than six inches of snow.

Southwest Airlines had canceled astir 600 flights, oregon 16% of Monday's schedule, by midday. Spokesman Brad Hawkins said storms implicit the play and connected Monday affected operations astatine immoderate of its biggest airports, including Chicago, Denver and Baltimore, and near planes and crews retired of position.

United Airlines said the nationwide COVID-19 spike caused by the omicron variant has affected its formation crews, resulting successful canceled flights. Delta cited wintertime upwind and omicron, but said it expected less than fractional arsenic galore cancellations Tuesday and Wednesday. American cited the tempest successful the Washington area, and said the fig of employees calling successful sick due to the fact that of COVID-19 was akin to the past fewer days, though it declined to springiness figures.

SkyWest, a determination bearer that operates flights nether the names United Express, American Eagle and Delta Connection, grounded much than 350 flights Monday aft scrubbing 500 connected Sunday.

Thousands of miles from the snowfall storms, Hawaiian Airlines said it had to cancel respective flights betwixt islands and crossed the Pacific owed to staffing shortages.

Airlines are paying impermanent bonuses to promote pilots and formation attendants to prime up flights near bare by co-workers with COVID-19. United volition wage pilots triple their accustomed wages for picking up unfastened flights done astir of January. Spirit Airlines reached a woody with the national to wage formation attendants treble done Tuesday.

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