United and Delta cancel more than 200 flights due to Omicron spread, airlines say
CBSN
United and Delta have canceled more than 200 flights on Christmas Eve as a surge in COVID-19 cases impacts their staff, the airlines said Thursday. The cancellations come as the Transportation Safety Administration says the number of people traveling for the holiday is returning to pre-pandemic levels.
"The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation," a United Airlines spokesperson told CBS News in a statement. "As a result, we've unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport."
As of now, the airline is proactively planning for 120 cancellations on Friday. A spokesperson for Delta Air Lines told CBS News that it too was planning to cancel around 90 flights on Friday.