2,300 flights canceled due to disruption of Omicron holiday trips

More than 2,300 flights were cancelled around the world Friday and thousands more were delayed as the highly infectious Omicron variant disrupted holiday travel.

 

According to tracking website Flightaware.com a total of 2,325 flights had been cancelled worldwide Friday as of 2015 GMT, including 616 flights originating from or headed to US airports, and more than 8,000 delayed.

 

Pilots, flights attendants and other staff have been calling in sick or having to quarantine after exposure to Covid, forcing Lufthansa, Delta, United Airlines and many other carriers to cancel flights during one of the year’s peak travel periods.

 

According to Flightaware, United cancelled more than 185 flights on Friday, or 10 percent of those that were scheduled. “As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport,” the airline said, adding that it was working to rebook passengers.

 

“We apologize to our customers for the delay in their holiday travel plans,” the company said.