Bad weather, COVID cases fuel 6th day of mass flight cancellations

Alaska Airlines is urging passengers to consider rescheduling their trips.

Winter weather and COVID-19 cases among flight crews have pushed the nationwide travel nightmare into its sixth day.

About 7,000 flights with at least one stop in the U.S. have been canceled since Christmas Eve, according to FlightAware. As of 7 p.m. Wednesday, cancellations for the day were already at more than 990 -- and creeping up fast.

Alaska Airlines is now urging passengers to consider rescheduling their nonessential holiday flights.

"We strongly urge flyers with non-essential travel scheduled before January 2, 2022, to consider changing their travel to a later date using our flexible travel policy," the airline said in a statement.