COVID-19 omicron variant causing flight delays, cancellations

The omicron variant of COVID-19 is causing major flight delays and cancellations, creating obstacles for people attempting to travel home for Christmas. There could be extra delays for thousands of travelers over Christmas weekend after major airlines canceled hundreds of flights, at least in part, because of COVID-19 cases among flight crews. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines said they canceled flights because of staff shortages tied to the omicron variant. Delta canceled 145 flights on Friday and 111 for Christmas Day, according to the flight tracking site FlightAware. Other factors, such as weather, are also causing cancellations. United called off 175 flights on Friday and 69 on Saturday. “The nationwide spike in omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation,” United said in a statement. “As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport.” READ MORE: https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/nat...