More than 1,000 US flights already canceled on Thursday

Plane coming in for a landing at SFO — Crew shortages from COVID-19 infections have light-emitting diode to to a higher degree 2,500 flights being canceled around the world Thursday morning.
St. James the Apostl Martin/CNET

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Unsparing brave, staffing shortages and a spike in COVID cases have led to the cancellation of 1,078 flights within, into or out of the US Thursday good morning, according to publicize-travel tracker site FlightAware.

Globally, more than 2,600 flights have been axed, followers a replaceable number nixed on Wednesday.

The end of the year is typically the busiest time for airlines, just the COVID-19 general has played havoc with holiday travel plans: More than 6,000 regular flights were canceled over the Christmas weekend alone, CNN reported.

Connected Thursday morning, United had grounded 190 flights, representing 8% of its tote up schedule, and another 127 were abeyant to various degrees.

JetBlue had canceled 175 flights, or 17% of its total roll, with another 126 listed equally delayed, according to FlightAware. The discount carrier is reducing its schedule by about 1,280 flights through Jan. 13 because of crew members becoming infected with the new highly transmissible omicron COVID variant, an airline spokesperson told Reuters.

"We carry the number of COVID cases in the N -- where all but of our crew members are settled -- to continue to soar for the next calendar week or two," the rep aforesaid. "This means there is a high likelihood of additional cancellations until case counts start to come down."

Read much:At-home COVID-19 tests less effective at detecting omicron form, Food and Drug Administration cautions

According to the JetBlue website, "the vast majority" of the company's crewmembers are vaccinated, and all customer-facing staffers are required to wear masks, but only new hires are required to atomic number 4 fully inoculated against COVID-19.

The US is not currently considering a vaccinum mandate for domestic travelers, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Hold in and Prevention, told NPR on Tuesday.

Passing into the New Year's weekend, around 538 USA flights have already been canceled for Friday, according to FlightAware, and another 98 for Saturday, New Year's Day.