Omicron surge: United and Delta cancel hundreds of Christmas flights

Air carriers scrapped more than 400 US flights Friday, led by United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, as surging Covid infections and the prospects of bad weather disrupted Christmas Eve travel. In Germany, Lufthansa also cancelled several flights.

The global tally exceeded 2,000 trips, according to data tracker FlightAware.com. China Eastern and Air China ranked one-two, FlightAware reported as of 8:30 am New York Time, with Chinese airports affected most heavily.

United Airlines Holdings set the cancellations in motion late Thursday, and its count swelled overnight into Friday morning, with 169 flights – 9 per cent of the day’s schedule – erased. FlightAware said Delta Air Lines cut 127 flights, or 6 per cent of Friday’s flying.

The travel snarls underscored the reach of the omicron Covid variant that is driving US case counts higher. United said in an email Thursday that a jump in omicron was limiting the availability of flight crews and ground personnel. 

Delta said its cancellations were due to a combination of reasons, including potential inclement weather in some places and the impact of omicron. 

“Delta teams have exhausted all options and resources -- including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying -- before cancelling around 90 flights for Friday,” Delta said in an emailed statement Friday. 

The holidays are among the heaviest times for travel. The Transportation Security Administration was estimating Dec 22 and 23 would be the busiest pre-Christmas travel dates nationally and locally, with Jan. 2 and 3 the most crowded for post-holiday travel.

“We’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport,” United said. “We’re sorry for the disruption and are working hard to rebook as many people as possible and get them on their way for the holidays.”