Alaska Air trims January flights to cope with virus outbreak
ABC News
Airlines are responding to high sickout numbers during the pandemic by trimming their schedules
Alaska Airlines said Thursday it will trim its schedule by about 10% for the rest of January at it deals with “unprecedented” numbers of employees calling in sick during the current COVID-19 surge.
The move by Alaska is similar to a decision last week by JetBlue Airways to cut about 1,300 flights through mid-January.
Alaska's announcement came on a day in which more than 1,800 U.S. flights were canceled by afternoon on the East Coast, according to FlightAware. The tracking service said that equaled about 8% of the day's scheduled flights, and it was the 12th straight day of 1,000-plus cancellations, which airlines blamed on the virus surge and winter weather.
Worldwide, airlines had canceled about 4,300 flights.
