Anyone impacted by the Flight cancellations etc etc?
 

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Omicron variant causes Christmas flight cancellations and holiday travel headaches
Delta and United Airlines are both blaming some cancellations on issues stemming from the omicron variant.

Travelers are having a rough Christmas Eve at the airport due in part to the coronavirus omicron variant.
According to Flight Aware, United Airlines has canceled 185 flights scheduled for Friday, about 9% of its planned schedule, and about 123 that were slated for Saturday.
United Airlines isn't the only airline feeling the impact of the omicron variant, as Delta Air Lines is also blaming the omicron variant for some flight cancellations.
According to Flight Aware, Delta Air Lines has canceled 165 flights on Friday, and 164 for Saturday.
JetBlue is also having issues, with 72 Christmas Eve flights canceled, or 7% of its scheduled flights.

Must be horrible for all those impacted, waiting for cancelled flight rebooking and waiting for family to arrive from air travel.


We are not affected. phew.


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Two weeks ago, my AA international, connecting flight in Miami was delayed over 13 hours. I suspect that they didn't have a crew.

Unfortunately airlines believe in Why tell the Truth when a perfectly good lie will suffice

My grandkids are flying south from Idaho on Boxing Day so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

I can’t even imagine flying around either Thanksgiving or Christmas anymore. What a nightmare!

Relatives on Delta shafted tomorrow

All of our family traveled on Monday. We all traveled for a living. Never took chances during winter for a flight day before holidays. Been SNOWED in too many times. Couldn’t blame bad weather, for canceled flights, all prior to any Covid issues.

We got to Hawaii Wednesday no problem. Hoping flights late next week are all cancelled so we can’t get home. ������

That would just be terrible, wouldn’t it?:1rotfl::1rotfl:

nope

Omicron.....the latest go to excuse for everything!

Thank you for bringing this up.......I have a flight in one week to come down to my home in the villages and honestly I'm very concerned. I've been very lucky not getting covid so far, 3 shots in my arm.. my concern is will I step on that plane and expose myself, like all these workers.. will I get to TV and everything closes down.. are the squares open? I guess I'm saying if I get there and basically have to stay in the house all the time, I might as well stay up north.
Ps....I am not paranoid, but have a few issues that I need to be cautious.

They really try to mitigate risks of transmission on a plane. I think it's worth the risk to be here in TV. And it is Florida so I wouldn't be too concerned about lockdowns of any kind. You have to impose them on yourself if you're paranoid, otherwise stay outside in public places and enjoy!

You’ve had your shots, wear a mask, and I would think you’d be ok on the flight. Far as I know, everything is open! In crowds or indoors, I wear a mask and so far so good!

Most things are open including the various clubs.

Most (all?) news outlets, regardless of being left, right, or middle-ish leaning, understand that bad news sells, so we only hear about 1600 (or whatever the number is) flight cancellations. Does anyone know haw many were not cancelled? Are we looking at 5% of flights cancelled or 50% or ?
Imagine turning on the news and hearing, "25,000 flights were not cancelled yesterday!" That really does not tell you anything either, but it's a little more cheerful!

Unless it was YOUR flight. ;)

I flew Christmas Eve. No problems!

We flew back to the UK on the 19th.
Flight was delayed - not because of the crewing problem on the plane but because there were staffing issues in Heathrow (London). The airlines can’t control that side of things. I guess there are many service industries who will struggle for a while while Omicron spreads and finally peaks. It’s sad that anybody suffers delays or postponement of meeting up with loved ones. But unfortunately that is the reality we face. As for the poster worried about flying, the issue is less about catching something on the plane, as they have Hepa filters. The bigger problem is being in the crowds at the terminal itself. We take antiseptic wipes and hand gel and use it appropriately and of course wear our masks. We hope everybody gets to catch up with family, stays safe and has a great Xmas and New Year.

Half full
 

Thanks for reminding us the glass is (more than) half full.

We have a friend whose a pilot with UAL and been so for many years.......early on they were going to mandate the vaxx and many (emphasis on many) in that company weren't going to take it and were put on leave. My take on this whole thing---blame it on a variant (that has the same symptoms as a cold btw) rather than saying, "we don't have enough staff to take care of all of you!" It isn't only pilots but the service people, those who check you in, those who take care of your luggage and others that support the airlines. It's ALL of those who aren't as trusting as many of you of the "science". Back in the 90's I had a flight with UAL to come home from Nashville. The flight kept getting set back...eventually we were told it was "the weather". Heard though, that the pilots and stews all had their hours in and couldn't/wouldn't go over that allotment. So the airline put very angry passengers up in hotels. The next day the lines were long and we were getting the same "song and dance"---bad weather (in Chicago). I'd been in communication with my home and the weather was fine. I told the person behind the desk it wasn't acceptible. She sent me down the line to another airline and we made it home just fine. This was all in the summer too btw.

Mandates are also the cause of cancellations.

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I DO agree with your premise re, 'Bad News'.

BUT, I believe in this case of so many cancelled flights et al - this is NEWS. The number of cancelled flights is a multitude of the 'norm'. Affecting MANY individuals and families - both impacting the travelers, and those waiting for them to arrive. The NEWS also prepares those who may be affected in near future flights. The NEWS re this is continuing - today>

Major airlines cancel hundreds of flights for Saturday, Sunday, as COVID omicron variant sidelines crews
More than 900 U.S. flights were canceled Saturday, with hundreds more cancellations coming Sunday
According to FlightAware, more than 920 U.S. flights were canceled Saturday and more than 1,200 others were delayed. U.S. airlines also already have canceled more than 220 total flights scheduled for Sunday.

So, we could write this off as bad news sells, but IMO it is TRULY News. Worthy of publishing and discussing.
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My husband is a very senior pilot at Delta. The biggest problem is there is a major pilot shortage! Many pilots took the early out offered at the beginning of the pandemic. The airlines didn’t expect things to bounce back this quick. They are hiring in droves (never a better time for a pilot want to be) The training department is very backed up as many pilots are waiting for training. My husband is an instructor pilot who does the final training in -flight once they are done with ground school. He literally has a student on every flight. Unprecedented. There are of course some pilots that are getting the omicron variant but the root of the problem is the shortage of pilots.

Or it could be looked at as people refusing to comply with mandates are the problem.

I agree that it's newsworthy. I'd just like some context. How about "on Saturday 920 out of 10,000 flights were cancelled. The average is 100 out of 10,000 flights cancelled". So you can infer that your chances of a cancellation went from 1% to 10%. Not great, but not the end of the world (unless it happens to you!).

Totally agree! Crazy!

Really
 

Shafted. If you think the airlines aren't a business and flying people isn't their business.?.? Perhaps you haven't been out shopping lately or out to dinner. COVID-19 effects all businesses. One crew member testing positive takes out the whole crew. Pilots are airplane specific and can only fly their current type. This post is as usual, all about a situation that they have no facts or research. I flew commercially for 35 years and dealt with passengers that can never see the big picture. All about me syndrome

Funny, select airlines having trouble..husband flew Southwest.. no problems there

We went to pick up our son from MCO on Christmas Eve. His Frontier flight from Madison was delayed an hour, and then he waited two hours for baggage due to a shortage of baggage handlers at MCO.

We fly back from Chicago on Christmas Day on United Airlines. Fortunately the cancellation did not affect us. COVID-19 is still a factor. I’m afraid it will be around for a longtime. I just pray that governments don’t over react.

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...and today, it goes on and on>

More than 3,000 flights delayed or canceled Sunday;
John Bacon
Christal Hayes
USA TODAY

[I]More than 3,000 flights have already been delayed or canceled across the nation Sunday amid the latest, omicron-driven coronavirus surge sweeping the industry, the nation and the world.

More than 800 flights entering, leaving or flying within the United States were canceled and over 2,400 were delayed Sunday, according to the tracking website FlightAware. More than 4,000 flights were delayed or canceled Christmas Day as days of scheduling nightmares left holiday travelers scrambling for transportation.

Delta, United and JetBlue have blamed the omicron variant for staffing problems leading to flight cancellations in recent days. United spokesperson Maddie King said staffing shortages were still causing cancellations. It was unclear when normal operations would return.“This was unexpected,” she said of omicron’s impact on staffing.

Flight delays and cancellations have been a recurring theme this year as airlines have ramped up schedules. Thousands of workers were driven from the industry last year when air travel collapsed, and staffing has not kept up with the resurgence in demand for flights./I]
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The Fl problem is LACK of lockdowns. And not over yet!

Plan A was to fly north out of Orlando for Christmas. We decided on plan B and that was to drive. Sometimes you win and sometimes lose.

On the Monday before Thanksgiving we made it through the TSA line, taking 1 1/2 hours. Orlando was a mob scene. We were going early to avoid this. Guess not. Ok we go on the shuttle and huff it to our gate and sit down -finally and exhausted. Not 5 minutes went by and they announced our flight was cancelled. Nothing else was available until Thanksgiving night at 8 pm. All other flights filled. We were crushed. Have not seen family since Thanksgiving 2019. Called our car service to come and get us. It was a very lonely Thanksgiving. Spirit Airlines blamed the weather. They can pretty much say anything they want, can't they.

I have flown six times in the past six months and the airlines and the airports have kept things very clean. I do fly first class, ( I told my kids if they did not want me to drive back and forth to the upper Midwest I was going to spend more of their inheritance), which keeps you away from the crowds.

My nephew is a pilot on United all had to have their shots. Unfortunately they are getting sick so who knows

Just another result of those who choose to not be vaccinated. Please stop complaining about the airlines and place the blame where it belongs.

Since vaccinated people get sick too, blaming the unvaccinated is ridiculus.

Friend of mine is a flight attendant and says JetBlue offered triple pay on Christmas Day due a shortage of flight attendants. Have all the pilots you want but no FA’s, no go.