United
and Delta airlines have canceled hundreds of flights today and tomorrow due to
COVID-19-related staff shortages.
News 12 Long Island's Caroline Flynn is at LaGuardia Airport to check out how flights are impacted there.
United
has canceled 168 flights for today, while Delta canceled 115 so far.
The
issue is also impacting Christmas Day travel as United Airlines has already
canceled 47 flights and Delta 52 flights.
United
Airlines issued a statement on the cancellations saying, “The
nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our
flight crews and the people who run our operation. As a result, we've
unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers
in advance of them coming to the airport. We're sorry for the disruption and
are working hard to rebook as many people as possible and get them on their way
for the holidays."
Delta
Airlines released a statement saying, "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. We apologize to our customers for the delay in their holiday travel
plans. Delta people are working hard to get them to where they need to be as
quickly and as safely as possible on the next available flight." Travelers
are urged to check with their airlines to see the status of any future flights.”