Delta’s flight cancellations trickle into Monday

Delta Air Lines, which canceled about 100 flights Easter Sunday, expected to scratch another 10 on Monday because of staffing challenges.

The Atlanta-based airline said the flight cancellations were caused by staffing issues as some pilots returned to active status and large numbers of employees were absent to get COVID-19 vaccinations. Those factors come on top of employees’ holiday time off.

Delta expected to be able to keep the number of flights canceled Monday to about 10 out of the more than 3,800 scheduled.

To quickly rebook passengers, Delta used middle seats, which the airline had planned to keep empty for pandemic social distancing through the end of the month. The airline last week announced it would begin filling those seats in May.

The move comes as more travelers take to the skies than at any point since the pandemic began. More than 1.5 million passengers passed through the nation’s airport security checkpoints Sunday. Delta said it has had more than a million passengers over the past few days.