© Provided by Agencia EFE
New York, Jan 1 (EFE) .- About 2,500 flights have been canceled with origin or destination in US airports on the first day of 2022, prolonging to a ninth day the important air disturbances caused by the expansion of the omicron variant of the coronavirus , combined with a snowstorm.
At 1:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. GMT), 2,482 cancellations had been registered throughout the country, more than half of the cancellations worldwide (4,304) on Saturday, which represents an increase in flight cancellations with respect to to the previous days.
The city of Chicago, in the northwestern United States, has today been the most affected in the world by a snow storm, which has led to the O’Hare airport having canceled 402 flights in origin and 425 in destination, to the that add 130 in origin and 143 in destination of the Midway airport; they are followed by Denver (Colorado) and Detroit (Michigan).
The lack of personnel due to the covid-19 infections that have been affecting flights has also been evident with the news that has become known regarding United Airlines, which has offered its pilots to triple their salary for much of the month of January to try to minimize cancellations.
Specifically, and according to a statement from United sent this Friday to the specialized media CNBC, the pilots’ union and the airline have reached an agreement that will pay more than three times their salary to pilots who work on open flights from the December 30 on January 3, and three more times for accepting additional flights between January 4 and 29.
The text also notes that United has recorded a “large number” of pilot casualties given the “rapid expansion of the omicron variant of the coronavirus.”
By airlines, the most affected in the world by the cancellations this Saturday, like the past few days, is China Eastern (513 flights affected), followed by Southwest (US line, with 472), SkyWest (also US, with 437) and Air China (with 226).
(c) EFE Agency
