NEWS: Surge in COVID-19 Cases Among Airline Staff Leads to More Flight Cancellations

Over the past month, several airlines have had to cancel and delay thousands of flights due to COVID-19 cases among crews and winter weather.

In total over 20,000 flights have been impacted by these schedule changes since December 24th, 2021 and, while the holiday travel season may be over, another airline has announced additional cancellations that will be coming throughout the remainder of this month.

According to CNBC, United Airlines CEO, Scott Kirby, has announced to employees that they will be canceling several upcoming flights in January to ensure that they “have the staffing and resources to take care of our customers.”

According to the memo shared by Kirby, roughly 4% of their U.S. workforce (or about 3,000 workers) is currently testing positive for COVID-19 leading to an overall shortage of crew members to meet the demands of the flight schedule.

United Airlines is one of many companies that has increased incentives for pilots to pick up trips throughout the month of January. However, the pilots’ union is still reporting that “sick calls among aviators were at a record.”

It is not clear how many January flights will be impacted by the cancellations, but you’ll want to be sure to check your flight status as your travel date approaches.

Of course, we’ll continue to keep an eye out for more of the latest travel updates that may impact your upcoming trip to Disney World, so stay tuned to AllEars for more!

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Are you planning on traveling in January? Let us know in the comments!