UNITED STATES (WBAP/KLIF News) – Airline passengers traveling amid the holiday rush were hit with major delays Friday when United and Delta Airlines canceled hundreds of flights on Christmas Eve.
According to FlightAware.com, the major U.S. based carriers had canceled more than 200 flights combined as of 7 a.m. on Friday.
In a statement, Chicago-based United blamed its cancellations on the spike in omicron COVID-19 cases among its flight and ground crew, which created staffing issues.
“The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operations. As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport,” said the United statement.
Atlanta-based Delta blamed its cancellations on omicron and the possibility of bad weather in some destinations.
The carrier said the cancellations were a last resort.
“Delta teams have exhausted all options and resources-including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying-before canceling around 90 flights for Friday,” said a Delta spokesperson.
Some citizens took to social media to vent about the holiday travel issues.
The situation did not impact two North Texas-based airlines.
According to FlightAware.com, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines did not have many issues on Christmas Eve.
Carriers are urging travelers to check their flight status before heading to the airport.
Copyright 2021. WBAP/KLIF News. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.