By Wilson Wong and Chantal Da Silva -
NBC News
Jaclyn Stanton was excited to be reunited with her parents for the first time since February 2020, when she last saw them before the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Stanton said she and her husband were hoping to board their flight on Christmas morning from Chicago to Sacramento, California, where their family lives.
But this Thursday night, Stanton received a text message alert from United Airlines informing him that
his flight had been canceled
.
"It broke my heart a little bit," Stanton, 36, said Friday.
"Last night was like a blow to the stomach."
Stanton is one of thousands of travelers hoping to get home for Christmas this year, but were left stranded when airlines around the world canceled thousands of flights amid
the spread of the omicron variant.
Passengers wait in line for Delta at Los Angeles International Airport on December 24, 2021.Davida Mcnew / AFP via Getty Images
The highly communicable omicron variant grew rapidly to account for nearly three-quarters of COVID-19 cases in the past week, while millions of people had already booked their vacation trips.
Airlines around the world have collectively canceled
more than 3,700 flights
for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, according to flight tracking website Flight Aware.
Of those canceled, more than 1,000 were scheduled into, to or from the United States.
Major airlines such as Delta and Alaska said they were forced to cancel hundreds of flights on Christmas Eve after the omicron variant infected employees and crew members.
This Friday, United canceled 192 flights in total.
Delta 264 and Alaska 16, according to the website mentioned above.
The symptoms left by the omicron variant are similar to those of the common cold or flu
Dec. 25, 202100: 49
"The peak in omicron cases across the country this week has had
a direct impact on our crews
and the people who run our operations," United Airlines said in a statement.
And he added that he would reschedule the flights of as many travelers as possible.
Delta also apologized for the cancellations, blaming the variance and potentially severe weather in places like Seattle and Salt Lake City.
[Strong storms hit the West Coast as other regions of the United States register spring temperatures]
On Thursday, Alaska Airlines canceled 17 flights, adding in a statement that more cancellations were possible on Friday "during this dynamic situation."
An American Airlines spokesperson said
no cancellations were planned.
The SouthWest airline told The Associated Press (AP) that "things are running smoothly."
Other airlines did not immediately respond to their schedules on Friday.
Airlines cancel or delay hundreds of flights due to crew shortage due to COVID-19
Dec. 24, 202100: 30
Air travel during the holidays was expected to nearly triple compared to the same period last year, the American Automobile Association reported Dec. 14.
An estimated
109 million
residents of the United States would travel this month in airplanes, vehicles and other means of transportation.
Many people complained on social media about these sudden itinerary changes.
"Unfortunately, @Delta canceled our 6am flight 5.5 hours before it left," wrote a user on the social network Twitter.
"I got up at 3:30 in the morning, had a Sudafed (so I won't sleep for 12-18 hours) and got in the car before checking emails / notifications," he added.
And he continued: "Perhaps flights before 9 in the morning should be canceled
more than 12 hours in advance
."
Another user wrote: "All kinds of flights delayed or canceled when leaving Honolulu. Airlines with little staff and illness are taking their toll."
As a high school chemistry teacher, Stanton said she had waited patiently for winter break to visit her family.
But as cases soared across the country, the Chicago resident said she grew increasingly concerned and prepared to take additional precautions, such as
wearing double masks on board the flight.
He was looking forward to reuniting with his family after two years of not spending the holidays together.
But her hopes were dashed after she received the text message about her flight cancellation.
"It's very frustrating. Everything is supposed to be fine, but omicron just arrived," he said.
Thousands of flights are canceled around the world because of the omicron variant on Christmas Eve
Dec. 24, 202101: 55
Stanton added that he received a full refund for his flight after "a lot of chaos" in dealing with customer service.
For now, she and her husband plan to spend Christmas together, for the first time, in the house they bought earlier in the year.
[The omicron variant shoots COVID-19 cases by more than 27% in the last two weeks]
Stanton said she was trying to be positive and look at this year as an opportunity to "
figure out what our Christmas traditions are going to be like now
."