Flight cancellations drag on as airlines short-staffed, more than 60 flights canceled at Boston’s Logan Airport on Christmas
Airlines continued to cancel hundreds of flights on Christmas Day as staffing issues tied to COVID-19 disrupted holiday celebrations during one of the busiest travel times of the year.
More than 60 flights had been canceled at Boston Logan International Airport as of 12:30 p.m. Saturday. More than half of the 64 cancellations were JetBlue, which had called off 33 flights on Christmas Day. JetBlue also had the most Boston cancellations on Christmas Eve.
Delta had four flight cancellations at Boston Logan, and United had one flight called off.
FlightAware, a flight-tracking website, noted 888 flights entering, leaving or inside the U.S. canceled Saturday, up from 690 Friday. About 200 more flights were already canceled for Sunday.
Delta, United and JetBlue on Friday had all said the omicron variant was causing staffing problems leading to flight cancellations. United spokesperson Maddie King said staffing shortages were still causing cancellations and it was unclear when normal operations would return.
“This was unexpected,” she said of omicron’s impact on staffing. Delta and JetBlue did not immediately respond to questions Saturday.
According to FlightAware, the three airlines canceled more than 10% of their Saturday scheduled flights. American Airlines also canceled 90 flights Saturday, about 3% of its schedule, according to FlightAware.
American spokesperson Derek Walls said the cancellations stemmed from “COVID-related sick calls” and the airline contacted customers on Friday.
Flight delays and cancellations tied to staffing shortages have been a regular problem for the U.S. airline industry this year. Airlines encouraged workers to quit in 2020, when air travel collapsed, and were caught short-staffed this year as travel recovered.
To ease staffing shortages, countries including Spain and the U.K. have reduced the length of COVID-19 quarantines by letting people return to work sooner after testing positive or being exposed to the virus.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian was among those who have called on the Biden administration to take similar steps or risk further disruptions in air travel. On Thursday, the U.S. shortened COVID-19 isolation rules for health care workers only.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3EtpI76
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