Advancement of the Omicron variant leaves passengers unable to make their trips.
Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP / Getty Images
The major airlines of the United States canceled more than a thousand flights this Monday, the fourth consecutive day of cancellations caused by the advance of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, reported the US company Flight Aware, which provides real-time flight information.
At 9:15 a.m. local time on the east coast of the United States (14.19 GMT), 810 air routes that had the North American country as their destination or starting point had been suspended, but five hours later the figure had risen to 1,074, which they account for more than a third of the total global cancellations (2,713).
Of the great American airlines, the ones that canceled the most flights today were United, American Airlines and Delta (with 94, 84 and 79, respectively); the most affected airport in the world turned out to be Seattle, where 84 planes did not take off and 91 did not land.
Yesterday, Sunday, there were 1,517 flights that stayed on the ground yesterday with origin or destination in the United States, so it is very likely that this figure will be exceeded throughout this Monday.
On Saturday another 1,000 planes also did not take off and on Friday, Christmas Eve, 700 aircraft remained in the hangars, according to Flight Aware.
In addition to cancellations, there have been 9,534 delays worldwide, also more than a third in the United States alone.
Airlines have asked their travelers to check websites and apps to find out about their flights.
United acknowledged that the increase in infections by Omicron in the United States is having a “direct impact” in flight crews and the rest of the company personnel, who have to stay at home to recover from the disease and not infect others.
While Delta assured travelers on its page today that a combination of problems, including, but not limited to, inclement weather in some areas of the country and the impact of the Omicron variant, are behind the cancellations.
“Canceling flights is always the last resort,” he said in the statement in which he recalled that he canceled 374 of the 4,155 connecting flights and main line scheduled on Sunday, due to the same factors.
Last week, several airlines asked the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reduce the quarantine of vaccinated pilots who are infected with coronavirus from 10 to 5 days.
The main epidemiologist of the US Government, Anthony Fauci, was today in favor of requiring proof of vaccination for internal flights within the United States, since according to him this measure will help to overcome the resistance of those who still refuse to be vaccinated and increase the ratio of vaccinated.
The United States continues to be one of the countries hardest hit by the covid-19 pandemic with more than 800,000 deaths and 52 million infections since March 2020, indicates the count from John Hopkins University.
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