US airport chaos as more than 2,700 flights cancelled

Air travel continued to be severely
disrupted in the United States on Saturday, with bad weather in parts of the
country adding to the impact of a massive spike in Covid-19 infections
fuelled by the Omicron variant.

The United States had 2,723 cancelled flights, more than half of the 4,698
cancelled worldwide, around 11:00 pm (0400 GMT Sunday), according to tracking
website FlightAware.

In addition, 5,993 domestic flights were delayed on Saturday, out of a
total of 11.043 worldwide for the day.

The worst affected US airline was SkyWest, which had to cancel 23 percent
of its flight schedule, according to the site.

In the United States, airports in Chicago were particularly hard-hit
because of bad weather, with a snowstorm expected in the area on Saturday
afternoon and into the night.

The global air travel industry is still reeling from the highly contagious
Omicron variant.

Many pilots, flight attendants and other staff are absent from work after
contracting Covid-19, or because they are quarantining after coming in
contact with someone who has the infection.

Some 7,500 flights were cancelled by airlines worldwide over the Christmas
weekend.

AFP