(Washington) Air travel remained severely disrupted in the United States on Saturday, with unfavorable weather in several parts of the country adding to the disruption in global skies due to the outbreak of COVID-19 cases linked to the Omicron variant.
The United States had 2,725 canceled flights since the start of the day – more than half of the 4,618 that have been canceled globally – around 11 p.m. Washington time (4 a.m. GMT Sunday), according to the FlightAware website.
In addition, 6,072 domestic flights to or from the United States were or were delayed on Saturday, out of a total of 11,136 for the day globally.
The most affected US airline is SkyWest, which had to cancel 23% of its flight plan, according to the site, followed by SouthWest (13%).
In the United States, Chicago (north) airports were particularly affected, with about half of departing or arriving flights canceled, due to difficult weather conditions, with a snowstorm expected in this region overnight.
And passengers should experience another complicated day on Sunday, the day back from the Christmas holidays: the site reports 1,497 flights canceled for the United States alone, and 2,538 worldwide.
Global air transport remains seriously disrupted by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which is extremely contagious. Many pilots and flight crew members are absent after contracting COVID-19, or are in contact and therefore in quarantine, forcing companies, which do not have enough staff to ensure the flights, to cancel them.
Around 7,500 flights were canceled by airlines across the world over Christmas weekend.