Airlines cancel thousands of Christmas flights due to staff shortages

(Image credit: YUKI IWAMURA/AFP via Getty Images)

published 26 December 2021

Airlines canceled more than 2,500 flights Christmas Day, including 880 within, into, or out of the United States, NPR reports. Delta, for example, canceled 14 percent of its Christmas flights.

As Omicron spreads and large numbers of employees call in sick, airlines are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with demand for flights while also keeping staff and passengers safe.

During the week leading up to Christmas, four Democratic lawmakers, including California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, wrote an open letter to the heads of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) urging the agencies to mandate "proof of vaccination or a negative test for domestic flights," The Hill reports. Under the current policy, such documentation is required only for international flights.

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Grayson Quay was the weekend editor at TheWeek.com. His writing has also been published in National Review, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Modern Age, The American Conservative, The Spectator World, and other outlets. Grayson earned his M.A. from Georgetown University in 2019.

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