"FAILED" CHRISTMAS TRAVEL PLANS DUE TO STICKY AT THE AIRPORT
According to estimates from the American Automobile Association (AAA), nearly 110 million Americans have planned to travel by car, train or plane between December 23, 2021 and January 2, 2022 - an increase of 34% compared to 2020. Most of the travel plans were made by American travelers before Omicron broke out as the "dominant" variant in the US, accounting for a high proportion in some hospitals and even among medical staff.
Although a recent study found that Omicron causes milder illness and lower hospitalization rates than previous variants of Covid-19, health officials are still warning people to be cautious about the possibility of unpredictable developments. As a result, many Americans have been tested for Covid-19 and have moved ahead with travel plans ahead of this year’s Christmas holiday. Those who have been fully vaccinated are more confident about traveling during the holiday season.
A family dressed in Christmas “uniforms” excitedly arrived at the Orlando airport, only to be stranded along with them.
During the three days from December 24 to 26, the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screened more than 2 million passengers per day at airports nationwide - double the number of passengers during the same period in 2020.
Los Angeles Airport alone is expected to see about 3.5 million travelers pass through from December 17, 2021 to January 3, 2022. This number, while much lower than the 45 million travelers in the same period in 2019, is much higher than the 1.85 million travelers in the same period in 2020.
However, tens of thousands of travelers who booked later flights close to Christmas Day were left stranded by a series of flight delays and cancellations. Images from airports across the United States showed long lines of travelers waiting for hours, but many were still unable to catch flights to get home or to their planned Christmas destinations. Some of them had to spend Christmas at the airport.
On December 24, about 2,400 flights were canceled and 11,000 flights were delayed, according to the website Flightaware.com.
REVEAL""HIDDEN CULPRIT" OMICRON
The Straits Times newspaper on December 26 quoted AFP as saying: On Saturday, December 25 alone, nearly 2,800 flights were canceled globally, including more than 970 flights to/from US airports, and more than 8,000 flights were delayed. Previously, on Friday, December 24, about 2,400 flights were canceled and 11,000 flights were delayed; the number of canceled flights on Sunday, December 26 was about 1,100. (According to the Daily Mail, on December 26, about 492 flights were canceled and 1,636 flights were delayed).
The common reason is that many pilots, flight attendants and airline staff reported sick or had to be quarantined due to Covid-19. Therefore, airlines such as Delta, United Airlines, JetBlue, Alaska Airlines… and even German airline Lufthansa were forced to postpone/cancel many flights during the peak Christmas travel season.
Travelers lined up at JFK airport in New York on December 24, despite little hope of making it to Christmas as planned.
Delta canceled 310 flights on December 25 and dozens more on December 26 because it “has exhausted all options and resources, including rerouting, replacing aircraft and crews to operate scheduled flights.” Delta apologized to customers for delaying their holiday travel plans.
United Airlines canceled 168 flights on December 24 and another 47 flights on December 25. At JFK airport in New York, as of the morning of December 26, JetBlue passengers were still waiting in long lines because the airline had problems printing boarding passes…
German airline Lufthansa said on December 26 that it had to cancel dozens of transatlantic flights to the US to Houston, Boston and Washington during the Christmas holiday, due to “an increase in the number of pilots on sick leave” despite the airline having a large number of additional staff for the occasion.
This family's Christmas travel plans appear to have been "ruined" when they were still stuck at the airport on December 24.
The massive flight delays and cancellations came as the US recorded 151,915 new positive Covid-19 tests on Christmas Day, with the total number of Omicron infections rising to 4,644. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that up to 73% of all new Covid-19 infections were caused by Omicron, with the rate as high as 92% in five states including New York and New Jersey.
