(CNET) – After bad weather and a surge in coronavirus cases gnarled air travel over the Christmas holiday weekend, flight cancellations in the thousands have pushed into the the week leading up to New Year’s Day.
Nearly 2,500 flights have been canceled worldwide so far on Wednesday, after more than 3,200 were canceled Monday and another 2,700 shut down on Tuesday, according to FlightAware. Globally, airlines canceled more than 6,000 flights over the Christmas weekend from Friday through Sunday, according to CNN. That brings the total tally of canceled flights up to roughly 14,000 since Christmas Eve.
Airlines pointed to bad winter weather and staffing shortages, as the widely spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus either infects workers or crimps their ability to work because of quarantining after an exposure. The end-of-the-year period around Christmas and New Year’s Day is one of the busiest travel times of the year.
