Alaska Airlines cuts 10% of January flights amid virus outbreak
This early Sunday, Nov. 15, 2020, photo provided by R E Johnson shows an Alaska Airlines jet that struck a brown bear while landing in the early evening the day before, killing the animal and causing damage to the plane, at Yakutat Airport in Yakutat, Alaska. The left engine cowling of the jet was damaged. (R E Johnson via AP)
Alaska Airlines said Thursday it will trim its schedule by about 10% for the rest of January as it deals with “unprecedented” numbers of employees calling in sick during the current Covid-19 surge.
According to the details, Alaska’s move is similar to JetBlue Airways’ decision last week to cut about 1,300 flights through mid-January. Alaska’s announcement came on a day when more than 2,100 United States (US) flights were canceled early in the evening on the East Coast, according to FlightAware.
The tracking service said it was equivalent to about 8% of the day’s scheduled flights, and it was the 12th straight day of more than 1,000 cancellations, which airlines attributed to the rise of the virus and winter weather.
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“As we have entered 2022, the continued impacts of Omicron have been disruptive in all our lives and unprecedented employee sick calls have impacted our ability to operate our airline reliably,” the company said in a statement.
Worldwide, airlines had canceled about 4,300 flights. Southwest continued to be the worst hit among US airlines, canceling about 650 flights, or 21% of its schedule for early Thursday night.
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Alaska had cleaned about 125, or 17% of its flights. The Seattle-based airline said in a statement that reducing flights until the end of January “will give us the flexibility and capacity to restart.”
Cancellations in the US began to increase on Christmas Eve and peaked Monday at more than 3,200, about one in eight flights. In addition to cutting flights, airlines such as United, Southwest and Spirit have offered bonuses to find employees willing to work extra days.
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