Thousands of flights delayed or cancelled globally on Saturday, disrupting travel during the peak season as airlines” face staff shortage due to rising cases of coronavirus among pilots and cabin crew. Bad weather also affected airport operations.
Over 3,429 flights were cancelled worldwide as of Saturday morning including nearly 20004 flights within into or out of the United States, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware.com. There were over 8,650 global flight delays in total.
The rapid spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant has led to a sharp increase in COVID-19 infections.
The number of new COVID-19 cases in the United States has doubled in eight days to a record high of 329,000 a day on average, according to a Reuters tally. Over that same period, the number of hospitalized COVID patients rose 32% and hit a record high in Maryland, Ohio and Washington, D.C.
The state of New York reported over 74,000 COVID-19 cases on Thursday at a 22% positivity rate, Governor Kathy Hochul said.
According to a Reuters report, U.S. airline cabin crew, pilots and support staff are reluctant to work overtime during the holiday travel season despite offers of hefty financial incentives. Many workers fear contracting COVID-19 and do not welcome the prospect of dealing with unruly passengers, some airline unions have said.
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