Air nightmare: more flights canceled before New Year 1:37
(CNN) -
Thousands of flights in the United States were canceled over New Years weekend due to the combination of COVID-19 outages and winter weather that slowed travel.
Cancellations this Sunday in the US already reach 2,373 flights, according to the FlightAware website, and cancellations worldwide reach 3,989.
Sunday is usually the busiest day of the week for travelers, and this Sunday is likely to be a busy day as the Christmas holidays and New Year's week close.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said Thursday it expected to screen 10 million people from Friday through Monday.
Southwest, JetBlue, Delta and American Airlines each have more than 100 flights canceled this Sunday, with Southwest leading with 264. JetBlue canceled 16% of its operations, according to data from FlightAware.
Including this Sunday, airlines have canceled more than 14,000 flights in the past 10 days, including Christmas Eve, according to a CNN tally of FlightAware data.
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FlightAware data shows that more than 4,731 flights were canceled around the world on Saturday, marking the largest day of cancellations since the crisis began on Christmas Eve.
At least 2,739 of the cancellations occurred within, to or from the United States.
The problem of canceled flights is expected to continue
The problem is likely to last into next week, as airlines need time to recover from just the weather problems.
There are already more than 310 US flights canceled for Monday.
Cancellations have been widespread at US airlines.
The Big Four were like this Saturday: Southwest canceled 13%, Delta 10%, American and United 8%.
A quarter of the flights out of Chicago O'Hare were canceled this Sunday, after 44% of the flights out of O'Hare and 54% of those out of Midway were canceled on Saturday.
Allegiant canceled 27% of its Saturday program, or 64 flights.
Spokesperson Hilarie Gray acknowledged the weather and personnel issues related to Covid-19 in a message to CNN.
"As you have noted, we continue to have an unusual number of cancellations this week - some were due to bad weather and others to other factors - including the kind of unforeseen impacts on staff due to COVID that other airlines and partners have experienced at the locations. to which we fly ".
"We cannot predict the continued impact of these factors, but unfortunately we anticipate further delays and cancellations this week. Of course, when an unforeseen trip interruption occurs, customer service notifies affected passengers directly and conveys options to them. to be relocated to another flight, receive a refund, a credit or other compensation, "he added.
A perfect storm
Airlines have already been grappling with the omicron variant, which has brought an unprecedented spike in covid cases.
Many airline employees have not been able to work.
The Federal Aviation Administration also warned that more of its own employees are testing positive, which may restrict flights.
Test positive for covid-19 on an airplane.
This is how it was isolated 2:28
Now, a new challenge adds to the traveler's problems: A major storm hits the Rocky Mountains and the Midwest, bringing heavy ice and snow.
Nearly a quarter of flights from Kansas City International Airport were canceled Saturday.
In Detroit, airlines canceled one in five flights.
Delta Air Lines told CNN Business that it projects that between 200 and 300 of its more than 4,000 daily flights will be canceled over the holiday weekend.
He also recommended that people traveling to Chicago, Detroit, Salt Lake City, Seattle, and the central and southern Rocky Mountain regions consider changing their travel plans due to weather conditions.
Southwest Airlines told CNN Business that all of its problems have been caused by the weather.
Chris Isidore and Ramishah Maruf of CNN Business contributed to this article.
