United, Delta suspends more than 200 US Christmas Eve flights due to rise in COVID

By David Shepardson

(Reuters) – United Airlines and Delta Air Lines (NYSE) said on Thursday they had canceled dozens of Christmas Eve flights because the widespread COVID-19 Omicron variant was damaging its flight crew and other staff.

United of Chicago canceled 120 flights on Friday, while the Atlanta Delta said it had canceled about 90 flights. Both said they were working to contact passengers so they would not stop at airports.

“The rise in Omicron cases nationwide this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who manage our operation. As a result, we have unfortunately had to cancel some flights and notify affected customers before they arrive. Airport,” he said. Unitedek.

Delta said it had “exhausted all options and resources – to cover scheduled and replacement flights including aircraft and crew re-routing – before canceling about 90 flights on Friday.”

The delta cited potential bad weather and the impact of the Omicron variant on the cancellation.

On Tuesday, Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta, called on the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reduce the quarantine guidelines for fully vaccinated people suffering from COVID-19 infections, citing the impact of carrier personnel. Bastian called for the isolation period to be reduced to five days from the current 10.

The request was echoed by both Airlines for America, a trade group that represents major freight and passenger carriers, wrote to the CDC on Thursday, and JetBlue on Wednesday.

The CDC released updated quarantines for health care workers on Thursday, reducing the isolation time to seven days for workers who are positive for COVID-19 but asymptomatic if they are negative.