“The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation,” said a United memo obtained by CNN.
United said it is “notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport,” according to a company statement. “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 said the cancellations are due to multiple issues including the Omicron variant.
“We apologize to our customers for the delay in their holiday travel plans,” Delta said in a statement. “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.”
Additionally, Alaska Airlines said in a statement that it canceled 17 flights because of Omicron and more cancellations are possible on Christmas Eve.
– Andy Rose and Sharif Paget contributed to this report
Read More: United and Delta cancel flights just before Christmas Eve