No end to Christmas FLIGHTMARE: 679 flights are cancelled and 711 are delayed on Christmas Day after 600 were axed yesterday because of crew shortages due to Omicron surge
Holiday travelers won't see any relief from the airport chaos this Christmas as more than 579 flights have been canceled and 403 more were delayed for Saturday due to staffing shortages caused by the COVID Omicron surge.
The new wave of delays and cancellations comes after more than 600 flights were cancelled and nearly 2,500 were delayed on Christmas Eve.
Travelers might face better conditions on Sunday, which currently has 158 flights canceled and 27 delays.
The hectic travel schedule comes as airlines have been hit hard by the recent COVID surge that saw a near record 261,339 new cases confirmed on Christmas Eve, along with 3,826 Omicron cases, a 45 percent jump from Wednesday.
Passengers crowded inside JFK Airport on Christmas Eve as hundreds of flights have been cancelled during the holiday weekend
More than 2,500 flights were delayed on Xmas Eve and more than 300 are set to be delayed on Christmas Day as holiday travelers cope inside airports
An airport ambassador at the Denver International Airport, in Colorado, wore a Grinch mask amid the hectic holiday schedule
Those in San Francisco International Airport, in California, kept their eyes on the scheduling board. Delta Airlines called off 254 flights for Christmas so far
Delta Airlines listed about 254 cancellations set for Christmas Day, and United has already called off 177 so far.
United and Delta said they were working to contact passengers so they would not be stranded at airports and in a statement United made it clear COVID is responsible for the cancellations.
Other major airlines like JetBlue have also cancelled 75 flights, while American Airlines has only cancelled 74 flights.
'The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation. As a result, we've unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport,' United said.
The delays have thrown a wrench in many people's holiday plans, but some people said they were forced to stay home because they are waiting to get their COVID test results back or are too worried about getting home.
But those willing to travel and faced with delays have been left frustrated and raging at the airlines, with some saying they will now be forced to drive 12 hours to get home in time.
Some said they were left waiting on planes for hours without updates, others said they were left waiting in long lines to check into flights while others said flights were just flat out cancelled with no warning, leaving them stranded for the holidays.
Travelers at Denver International Airport so no relieve on Friday afternoon
Flight schedules appear better for Sunday, with only 158 flight cancellations set
Airlines have said they're trying to accommodate passengers left stranded due to the delays
Passengers all over America kept eyeing flight schedules to make sure their trips weren't among the hundreds delayed or cancelled
The San Francisco International Airport was extremely busy on Christmas Even
Flights are being cancelled in airports all over the US. Pictured, Denver International Airport
Globally, more than 3,500 flights were cancelled for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, according to FlightAware, while an additional 2,000 flights were cancelled on Thursday.
Omicron continues to drive a surge of new COVID cases across the US, with Christmas Eve seeing total infections edge closer to the all-time record with 261,339 new cases in the last 24 hours, up 10 per cent from the day before, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University published Friday.
Meanwhile, confirmed Omicron infections rose 45 per cent in a day, from 2,625 to 3,826. Those represent a tiny fraction of the true total, because the US only sequences a very small proportion of positive PCR tests to identify which strain caused a person's infection. And on Friday morning, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the Empire State had once again broke its daily COVID infection record, with 44,000 new cases. That was up from 38,600 the day before, and almost 20,000 higher than cases were on Tuesday, with Hochul blaming Omicron for that surge.
The CDC estimates that at least 73 per cent of all new COVID infections are being caused by Omicron, with that figure as high as 92 per cent in five states including New York and New Jersey.
Globally, there has been a surge in cases, with the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures revealing there were 1.69million infections per day in the week up to December 19 — last Sunday — rising 55 per cent compared to the previous week. In the UK, London is being battered hardest by the new variant, with one in 20 infected with the virus and ten of the worst hit postcodes in England located within a three square mile stretch.
A defeated looking passenger checks her phone for updates on the floor of JFK Airport as she attempts to travel on Friday
The long line at JFK Airport in New York on Friday as holiday travelers attempt to fly out in time for Christmas day
A passenger takes a break from one of the most hectic travel days this year and lays on the floor of JFK on Christmas Eve
A family's Christmas eve travel plans don't appear to go according to schedule as they sit on the floor of JFK International Airport on Friday
A weary traveler catches a shut eye at Terminal 4 at JFK Airport a day before Christmas as hundreds of domestic flights are cancelled on Friday
A passenger waits with his pup on line at John F. Kennedy International Airport on Christmas Eve after airlines announced numerous flights were canceled during the spread of the Omicron coronavirus
A passengers takes a break from the commotion and sits with his luggage at JFK International Airport during a chaotic Christmas Eve
Passengers embrace and take a moment at JFK International Airport on Christmas Eve when thousands of flights were cancelled
Patient travelers wait on long lines at JFK Airport in New York City on Christmas Eve as airlines like Delta and United continue to cancel flights throughout the day
FlightAware data showed that more than 20 percent of the flights canceled for Christmas Eve involved flights within, into or out of the United States (travelers pictured at JFK Airport)
When accessing a cancelled flight on United's website, the following message pops up: 'Your flight is canceled due to an increase in Covid cases limiting crew availability. We're sorry for disrupting your holiday plans and for the inconvenience.'
The staff shortages may be in part caused by vaccine mandates.
All United Airlines US employees had to be vaccinated by October 25, except for those with medical and religious exemptions and all Delta Air Lines employees must be vaccinated or pay an additional $200 per month for their company-sponsored healthcare plan. Only six out of 13,000 pilots working for United Airlines have been fired as a result of not meeting the mandate deadline, and at least 99% of workers were vaccinated.
But Delta, where 99 percent of workers are vaccinated, cited potential inclement weather and the impact of the Omicron variant for the cancellations, saying they have 'exhausted all options and resources - including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying - before canceling around 90 flights for Friday.'
But travelers were not having it and took to social media to air their frustrations.
ravelers move through the departures hall at Terminal 4 of John F. Kennedy International Airport on Christmas Eve
Cancelled flights continue to add up throughout the day as airlines faced staff shortages due to the Omicron surge
Travelers wait in line at the Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) in Philadelphia on Thursday as hundreds of flights were cancelled due to short staffing
Passengers at JFK Airport in New York wait for their baggage as cancellations and delays ruin thousands of travel plans
Photos of airports across the country show the chaos at understaffed airports where hundreds of people wait for hours in order to catch their flights for the Christmas holiday.
At JFK Airport this morning JetBlue passengers were seen waiting on a huge line after the airline was experiencing issues printing bag tickets.
Cleveland Hopkins Airport told travelers to check the status of their flight before they arrived to the airport to avoid wasting a trip: 'Our message to anyone who has a scheduled flight today is to contact the airline their flight is with to find out the status of their flight before they come to the airport.'
On Friday, Germany-based Lufthansa that it was canceling a dozen long-haul transatlantic flights over the Christmas holiday period because of a 'massive rise' in sick leave among pilots.
The cancellations on flights to Houston, Boston and Washington come despite a 'large buffer' of additional staff for the period.
The airline says it couldn't speculate on whether COVID-19 infections or quarantines were responsible because it was not informed about the sort of illness. Passengers were booked on other flights.
Travelers were told they should brace for long waits at airports and lengthy traffic on the roads as an estimated 109 million people are set to travel between December 23rd and January 2nd this year - a 34 percent increase from the same time period in 2020.
A dramatic 27.7 million more people than in 2020 will travel 50 miles or more this holiday season, with eight percent less travelers than the same point in 2019.
Of those travelers, 6.4 million will be boarding airplanes, more than twice the 2.3 million that did so during the holiday season during the height of COVID in 2020. In 2019, 7.33 million holiday travelers traveled by airline, compared to 6.7 million in 2018 and 6.5 million in 2017.
Of this year's holiday travelers, 6.4 million will be boarding airplanes, more than twice the 2.3 million that did so during the holiday season during the height of COVID in 2020. In 2019, 7.33 million holiday travelers traveled by airline, compared to 6.7 million in 2018 and 6.5 million in 2017
Over the past three days, the Transportation Security Administration has screened more than two million passengers each day at airports nationwide, double the number of screenings carried out this time in 2020.
At Los Angeles International Airport, up to 3.5 million travelers are expected to pass through between December 17 and January 3rd. There were 45 million travelers during that period in 2019, but this year's prediction is higher than the 1.85 million passengers seen at that time in 2020.
After Sunday, peak travel days are expected between December 26 and January 2nd, with more than 200,000 passengers expected each of those days. Friday, according to LAX officials, was the busiest day the airport saw since 2020.
'That trend will continue each Sunday for the next three weeks, with busy days in between,' LAX tweeted.
After Sunday, peak travel days at LAX are expected again on Dec. 26 and Jan. 2, when more than 200,000 passengers are expected during each of the days.
On Tuesday, Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian asked the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to shrink quarantine guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals who experience breakthrough COVID-19 infections, citing the impact on the carrier's workforce.
Bastian asked that the isolation period be cut to five days from the current 10.
That request was echoed both by Airlines for America, a trade group representing major cargo and passenger carriers, which wrote to the CDC on Thursday, and by JetBlue on Wednesday.
The CDC released updated quarantine guidance for healthcare workers on Thursday, cutting the isolation time to seven days for workers who test positive for COVID-19 but are asymptomatic, providing they test negative.
It has been expected to be a rebound season for holiday travel after the pandemic shut down most of it in 2020.
As the virus rages at home, President Biden lifted the travel ban on several African countries.
Now all non-U.S. citizens who had recently been in South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi may travel to the U.S.
The CDC recommend the change because of promising stats out of Africa.
Data from from South Africa, where the strain was first reported, looks promising.
There was a huge and sudden drop in cases, suggesting Omicron may have quickly run its course. But panic over the new strain continues to prevail across much of the world, with Italy and Spain now ordering people to wear masks outdoors.
Imperial College London on Wednesday found that Omicron is 40 per cent less likely to lead to serious illness than the Delta variant.
Another study by the University of Edinburgh suggested that the new variant could slash hospitalizations by as much as 65 percent, with a third South African study indicating the potential 80 per cent drop in hospitalizations.
Both British studies underlined, however, the importance of vaccines with the Imperial study stating the risk of hospitalization for an unvaccinated person was just 10 percent lower for Omicron than with Delta.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control, just 72.8 percent of all eligible Americans had received their first COVID dose by Wednesday, and 61.7 percent are fully vaccinated.
And of those who are eligible for a booster shot, just 30 percent have received one.
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