Flight cancellations snarl holiday plans for thousands

By TALI ARBEL

NEW YORK (AP) — Airlines continued to cancel hundreds of flights Saturday due to the fact that of staffing issues tied to COVID-19, disrupting vacation celebrations during 1 of the busiest question times of the year.

FlightAware, a flight-tracking website, noted astir 1,000 canceled flights entering, leaving oregon wrong the U.S. Saturday, up from 690 flights scrapped connected Friday. Over 250 much flights were already canceled for Sunday. FlightAware does not accidental wherefore flights are canceled.

Delta, United and JetBlue had each said Friday that the omicron variant was causing staffing problems starring to formation cancellations. United spokesperson Maddie King said staffing shortages were inactive causing cancellations and it was unclear erstwhile mean operations would return. “This was unexpected,” she said of omicron’s interaction connected staffing. Delta and JetBlue did not respond to questions Saturday.

According to FlightAware, the 3 airlines canceled much than 10% of their scheduled Saturday flights. American Airlines besides canceled much than 90 flights Saturday, astir 3% of its schedule, according to FlightAware. American spokesperson Derek Walls said the cancellations stemmed from “COVID-related sick calls.” European and Australian airlines person besides canceled holiday-season flights due to the fact that of staffing problems tied to COVID-19.

For travelers, that meant clip distant from loved ones, chaos astatine the airdrome and the accent of spending hours lasting successful enactment and connected the telephone trying to rebook flights. Peter Bockman, a retired actor, and his girl Malaika, a assemblage student, were expected to beryllium successful Senegal connected Saturday celebrating with relatives they hadn’t seen successful a decade. But their 7:30 p.m. formation Friday from New York to Dakar was canceled, which they recovered retired lone erstwhile they got to the airport. They were determination until 2 a.m. trying to rebook a flight.

“Nobody was organizing, trying to benignant things out,” helium said, faulting Delta for a deficiency of lawsuit service. “Nobody explained anything. Not even, ‘Oh we’re truthful sorry, this is what we tin bash to assistance you.’”

Their caller flight, for Monday evening, has a layover successful Paris, and they are disquieted determination volition beryllium issues with that 1 arsenic well. They person already missed a large household get-together that was scheduled for Saturday.

FlightAware’s information shows airlines scrapped much than 6,000 flights globally for Friday, Saturday and Sunday combined arsenic of Saturday evening, with astir one-third of affected flights to, from oregon wrong the United States. Chinese airlines made up galore of the canceled flights, and Chinese airports topped FlightAware’s lists of those with astir cancellations. It wasn’t wide why. China has strict pandemic power measures, including predominant lockdowns, and the authorities acceptable 1 connected Xi’an, a metropolis of 13 cardinal people, earlier this week.

Employees who answered the telephone Sunday astatine lawsuit hotlines for Air China and China Eastern airlines said they had received nary announcement of cancelations of flights to oregon from the United States.

Air China usually flies betwixt New York City and Shanghai doubly a week. China Eastern has 2 play flights to Los Angeles, 1 from Beijing and the different from the confederate metropolis of Shenzhen. Another Chinese airline, Hainan Airlines, suspended flights to the United States aboriginal successful the pandemic.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China’s formation docket done the extremity of March shows a full of 408 planetary flights planned per week. That is down 21% from a twelvemonth earlier.

Flight delays and cancellations tied to staffing shortages person been a regular occupation for the U.S. hose manufacture this year. Airlines encouraged workers to discontinue successful 2020, erstwhile aerial question collapsed, and were caught short-staffed this twelvemonth arsenic question recovered.

To easiness staffing shortages, countries including Spain and the U.K. person reduced the magnitude of COVID-19 quarantines by letting radical instrumentality to enactment sooner aft investigating affirmative oregon being exposed to the virus.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian was among those who person called connected the Biden medication to instrumentality akin steps oregon hazard further disruptions successful aerial travel. On Thursday, the U.S. shortened COVID-19 isolation rules for wellness attraction workers only.

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Joe McDonald successful Beijing contributed to this report.