12/27/21 - Airlines Cancel Flights Due To Staffing Shortages

Travelers are encouraged to check before they go due to flights being canceled across the United States because of staffing shortages.

-Airlines canceled more than 700 flights and delayed nearly 1,000 more early Monday.  The industry continues to be plagued by staffing shortages caused by the nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases. 

 Americans wanted to travel, but airlines have struggled to keep up. More than 1,500 flights within, into or out of the U.S. were canceled Sunday and over 6,000 delayed, the tracking website FlightAware reported. 

Several airlines said the scheduling issues were caused by staffing problems tied to COVID-19. 

The CDC says that the omicron variant is proving to be much more contagious than the delta variant; omicron now accounts for more than 70% of new cases in the United States.

The latest wave of COVID-19 is pounding hospitals in some parts of the country, according to Department of Health and Human Services data reported Sunday.