Another tough day for air travel with 1000+ US


Airlines have been preparing for the holiday season for months, reviewing plans and preparing workers’ reserves. But that wasn’t enough to mitigate the effects of the rapidly spreading Omicron coronavirus. Heavy snowfall and strong winds in the west.

The impact continued to be felt on Thursday, with more than 1,000 flights to or from the United States canceled by mid-morning. According to the FlightAware air travel data site. By Thursday morning, the site was also showing more than 500 cancellations for Friday.

Carriers, including JetBlue, canceled 17 percent of their total flights. JetBlue said on Wednesday it is reducing its tariff until January 13. The airline said in a statement that it has seen “an increase” in patient calls due to the Omicron variant, hindering its ability to properly staff although it thinks it has launched flights. holiday with more workers than ever since the pandemic began.

“We expect the number of Covid cases in the Northeast, where most of our crew members are located, to continue to rise over the next week or two,” the company said. “This means there is a high probability of additional cancellations until case numbers start to drop.”

Alaska Airlines, headquartered at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, canceled 14 percent of its flights. Continuous snowfall and record low temperatures on Pacific Northwest planes last week, and it snowed again in Seattle on Thursday.

Seeking to relieve staffing congestion, the airline industry has forced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to shorten the recommended isolation period for Americans infected with Covid-19. The agency had previously recommended that infected patients be isolated for 10 days after a positive test. But on Monday, reduced this period to five days for those with no symptoms and no fever whose other symptoms resolve.

Delta Airlines (previously) one of the first companies to adapt to the updated guideline. Tuesday’s new policy provides five days of paid leave to vaccinated workers who test positive for the coronavirus, according to an internal communication with company leaders by The New York Times.

The policy encourages, but does not require, a Covid test to get back to work – going a step further than CDC guidance that does not include a recommendation for additional testing – and Delta offers two additional days of paid leave to workers who test positive on Day 5, but according to the airline’s protocols. It doesn’t mention whether returning employees will have symptoms of improvement, as the CDC recommends.



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