USA: "Flightmare" continues into the new year 2022.

Thousands of flights delayed or canceled due to Omicron.

The new Omicron variant, with its faster spread, is believed to be the culprit behind the continued staffing shortages, especially for flight crews, faced by airlines. This has led to the "Flightmare" and "chaos" (airport chaos) that began before Christmas Eve 2021 and continued into the new year 2022 for the third consecutive week.

Southwest was the hardest-hit American airline on Monday, January 3rd, with 481 flights canceled and 477 others delayed. SkyWest, which operates in over 200 US cities on behalf of Delta, United Airlines, American Eagle, and Alaska, canceled 271 flights. Denver International Airport and Newark Airport were among the top five US airports with the most canceled flights.

According to a Daily Mail report on January 5th, the United States broke records for the number of new daily Covid-19 infections, primarily due to the outbreak of the new Omicron variant – reaching 1,082,549 new cases on January 3rd. Consequently, according to data from FlightAware.com, a US company specializing in tracking flights, as of the afternoon of January 4th, an additional 1,442 flights in the US had been canceled and over 3,600 delayed, leaving many passengers stranded and causing frustration and anger.

Along with staff shortages, especially flight crews, due to COVID-19 infections, airlines also cited bad weather as a reason for flight disruptions. On January 3rd, a major storm hit states in the Mid-Atlantic region, including New York and Washington D.C., causing more than half of flights to be delayed or canceled at Ronald Reagan National Airport, as well as Baltimore/Washington Thurgood Marshall and Washington Dulles International Airports. Similarly, a quarter of flights at New York's three major airports were also delayed or canceled.

TEMPORARY SOLUTIONS TO OVERCOME “FLIGHTMARE”

According to data from FlightAware.com, as of noon on January 3rd, more than 2,600 flights in the US and over 4,400 flights worldwide were grounded due to cancellations, along with 8,500 delayed flights (including 3,100 in the US). Prior to that, on Sunday, January 2nd, more than 2,600 flights in the US and over 4,400 flights worldwide were grounded, following the busiest day since Christmas, Saturday, January 1st, when more than 2,700 flights in the US and over 4,700 flights worldwide were grounded due to cancellations.

US airlines say they are trying to reduce flight delays and cancellations. For example, United Airlines is offering pilots three times or more of their normal pay to accept "open" flights through almost the end of January. Spirit Airlines has reached an agreement with the Flight Attendants Association to double pay flight attendants until Tuesday, January 4th…

In general, airlines hope that the stopgap solution of paying extra and reducing flight schedules will help them get through the holiday season, which is also the peak travel period of the year (usually lasting from Christmas the previous year to mid-January the following year).

Thanh Nguyen