Flight Delays, Cancellations Strand Thousands of Travelers

Staffing issues, quarantines after COVID testing, and early retirements have the airlines short-staffed and passengers short-tempered.

Meg Godlewski

Monday, December 27, 2021 at 02:56 PM ET

Verified

A plane approaches Seattle Tacoma International Airport in Seatac, Washington. [Credit: Adobe Stock]

Key Takeaways:

Thousands of holiday flights were canceled or delayed nationwide due to a combination of airline staffing shortages, primarily caused by the Omicron variant forcing crew quarantines, and severe winter weather.
Major airlines experienced over 2,466 flight disruptions between December 24-27, with hub cities like Denver, Chicago, and Seattle most affected.
The staffing crisis is exacerbated by long-term issues of unreplaced senior flight crews, leading airlines to urge the CDC to reduce COVID-19 quarantine periods from 10 to five days.

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Thousands of travelers are having their holiday plans disrupted owing to a combination of reduced staffing blamed on the surge of the omicron variant of COVID-19 and wintery weather resulting in the cancellation and delay of thousands of airline flights across the country.

According to FlightAware, between December 24 and 10 a.m. PT on Monday, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, and United Airlines were forced to cancel or delay more than 2,466 flights.