After a 2020 Christmas hit hard by the pandemic, some hoped to resume this year with travel for the holidays.
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, an increase of 34% from the year last.
This was without counting on the Omicron variant which severely disrupted air traffic this Christmas weekend.
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According to the Flightaware site, there were more than 2,650 flight cancellations on Saturday at 9:40 p.m., against 2,400 cancellations recorded on Friday according to the same source, which already has more than 900 cancellations scheduled for Sunday.
This makes a total of more than 6,000 cancellations of flights recorded for the whole weekend without counting the delays which are estimated at more than 18,000.
10% of thefts deleted
Pilots, flight attendants and other staff members had to be quarantined after being exposed to Covid, which forced Lufthansa, Delta and United Airlines to cancel flights. According to Flightaware, United Airlines had to cancel around 439 flights on Friday and Saturday, or about 10% 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 manage our operations," said the American company, which said it was working to find solutions for passengers. affected.
Delta Air Lines also canceled more than 300 flights on Saturday, and 170 the day before, again 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, argued the airline.
Chinese airlines were responsible for the most cancellations, however: China Eastern cut around 540 flights, more than a quarter of its flight plan, while Air China canceled 267 flights, also near a quarter of his scheduled departures.
Santa Claus spared
Fortunately, these disruptions did not have any consequences for the tour of Santa Claus, scrupulously followed, for decades, by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
NORAD counted exactly 7,623,693,263 gifts distributed this year, after having followed the course of the sled thanks, explains the organization, to a sensor placed in the nose of one of the reindeer.
#NORAD tracking aircraft, the E-3 Sentry has confirmed Santa is traveling South from Alaska.
The Airborne early warning and control (AWACS) aircraft can detect all aircraft within its operating range.https: //t.co/Um7R22rVsw pic.twitter.com/1SHSiLwAPX
- NORAD Tracks Santa (@NoradSanta) December 25, 2021
This tradition finds its origin in a telephone confusion.
In 1955, a Colorado newspaper, wanting to publish the number of a telephone line supposed to allow children to call Santa Claus, had mistakenly printed that of the military command, which then decided to take the game.
