Flying? It’s another tough day for air travel

Airlines have been preparing for the holiday season for months, reviewing plans and readying reserves of workers. But that was not enough to mitigate the effects of the fast-spreading omicron coronavirus and of heavy snow and strong winds in the West.

The impact continued to be felt Thursday, with more than 1,100 cancellations of flights to, from or within the United States, according to the air travel data site FlightAware. The site was also showing more than 500 cancellations for Friday.

The continued disruption comes as the country is averaging more than 260,000 new coronavirus cases a day, greater than the peak levels from last winter, though deaths and hospitalizations have remained relatively steady.

The surge has disrupted far more than air travel.

New York City has slowed to a crawl as the virus thins the ranks of subway workers and emergency personnel. Cincinnati declared a state of emergency Wednesday to help the city deal with labor shortages within the city’s Fire Department amid a spike in coronavirus cases that coincided with scheduled holiday vacations. Many cities have canceled or limited New Year’s celebrations. More broadly, the pandemic has caused months of havoc in supply chains.

Looking to relieve its staffing squeeze, the airline industry pushed for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to shorten its recommended isolation period for Americans infected with COVID-19. The agency had previously recommended that infected patients isolate for 10 days after a positive test. But Monday, it reduced that period to five days for those without symptoms and those without fevers whose other symptoms were resolving.

Delta Air Lines was one of the first companies to adapt to the updated guidance. Its new policy, dated Tuesday, provides five days of paid leave for vaccinated workers who test positive for the coronavirus to isolate, according to an internal memo to company leaders.