U.S. airline executives this week asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials to loosen quarantine guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals who test positive for Covid to five days from the current 10, citing potential staffing shortages and flight disruptions. The CDC loosened its guidelines for healthcare workers on Thursday.
United cancelled more than 131 mainline flights scheduled for Friday, about 7% of its schedule, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.
Delta canceled more than 90 flights, or 4% of Friday’s schedule, citing bad weather in the Salt Lake City and Seattle area, two of its hubs, and the impact of the fast-spreading omicron variant. More than 80 of Delta’s Saturday flights were cancelled.
“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,” the airline said in a statement. “We apologize to our customers for the delay in their holiday travel plans. Delta people are working hard to get them to where they need to be as quickly and as safely as possible on the next available flight.”
Airline executives in recent weeks have said they expect some of the busiest days since the pandemic began over the year-end holidays, despite the increase in Covid cases around the country.
