Tens of thousands of flights across the US have been canceled in recent days as airlines struggle to meet staffing requirements. After many hoped the struggles would end after Christmas, carriers have canceled nearly 1,000 flights daily through the last week. Here’s why so many flights are being canceled every day in the US.
Still struggling
The problems began on the Friday before Christmas. After warning of a holiday collapse, airlines were forced to cancel 650 flights on Christmas eve, followed by over 900 on the 25th itself. However, things have not improved since then.
Airlines canceled another 882 flights on Wednesday, according to FlightAware. Carriers have scheduled another 427 cancellations for today, with more likely on the way in the coming hours. So why has the situation gotten so bad?
Omicron
The simple answer to the question is the Omicron variant. While airlines had initially planned for extra crewing over the holidays, the new fast-spreading variant has left hundreds of frontline staff stuck at home isolating. Given the US’ rapid increase in daily positive cases, it’s unsurprising that flight staff have been impacted greatly.
While the weather has contributed to a small number of cancelations as well, COVID takes the blame for most of the flights. With cases showing no signs of slowing down, airlines are expecting even more nixed flights in the coming days. But there is some good news on the horizon.
As the Omicron variant becomes dominant across the US, the CDC made a key policy change in recent days. Now, positive cases only need to isolate for five days, followed by five days of mask-wearing if they are asymptomatic or have improving symptoms. This clears the way for thousands of frontline staff to return to their jobs earlier than predicted.
However, it also risks actively infected crew members spreading the virus to passengers and fellow staffers. This has led many scientists to decry the move and call for testing before any cases are declared recovered. For now, the CDC has stuck by its new five-day isolation rule.
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Short-term impact
Despite Omicron driving up cases in the US and Europe, airlines are hoping this will only have a temporary impact on travel demand. While fewer passengers will be traveling in the early weeks of 2021, demand should bounce back beyond pre-pandemic over the spring and summer. One reason for this is the wide availability of boosters in two regions and the second is less severe illness among vaccinated individuals compared to other variants.
For now, airlines will be hoping to get their crew members back in the sky and keep passengers moving. Ahead of a full recovery next year, Omicron should only be a speed bump on the way.
What do you think about the US’ cancelation crisis? Let us know in the comments!
