A variant that is shaking up the epidemic, and the plans of many families before Christmas.
Due to the rise of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, airlines have had to cancel more than 2,000 flights worldwide.
According to the Flightaware site, there were at 6:50 p.m. GMT (7:50 p.m. in Paris) at least 2,272 flight cancellations on Friday, of which 585 were trips linked to the United States, whether they were international or internal routes.
As of Thursday, 2,231 flights had been canceled, according to the same source.
Many companies questioned by AFP referred to the new wave of the pandemic, which particularly affects crews, as one of the main causes linked to these cancellations.
Variant Omicron and personnel exposed
According to Flightaware, United Airlines had to cancel more than 180 flights on Friday, or 8% of those that were scheduled.
"The peak of Omicron cases across the country this week has had a direct impact on our crews and the people who run our operations," said the company, which said it is working to find solutions to get them out. affected passengers.
Delta Air Lines also canceled 163 flights, according to Flightaware, citing both Omicron and, occasionally, adverse weather conditions.
“The Delta teams have exhausted all options and resources” before coming to these cancellations, argues the airline.
More than ten Alaska Airlines flights, whose employees said they were "potentially exposed to the virus" and had to self-isolate in quarantine, have also been canceled.
Family reunion prevented
These cancellations disrupt the desire to resume travel this year for the holidays, after a Christmas 2020 hit hard by the pandemic.
According to estimates by the American Automobile Association, more than 109 million Americans were expected to leave their immediate area by plane, train or car between December 23 and January 2 - up 34% from the year last.
Read alsoExodus for the holidays in the United States despite the advance of Omicron
For example, the airline company American Airlines had planned 5,300 flights Thursday, as many as the two previous days.
"This represents 86% of our flight program for the same period of 2019", during the last holiday season, before the Covid-19 comes at length to obstruct most of the trips, said the company. .
But most of these trips had been planned before the outbreak of the highly contagious Omicron variant, which spreads at full speed and forces many people to self-isolate even without symptoms.
