DENVER — United Airlines and Delta Airlines have canceled more than 200 Christmas Eve flights nationwide, including 32 at Denver International Airport (DIA), due in part to a spike in omicron COVID-19 cases.
“The nationwide spike in omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation," United Airlines said in a statement to 9NEWS.
As of 8 p.m. Thursday, United had more than 130 Christmas Eve cancellations nationwide, including 15 at DIA, according to FlightAware.
> Video above: Holiday travel nearing pre-pandemic levels at DIA
"We’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport," the airline said. "We’re sorry for the disruption and are working hard to rebook as many people as possible and get them on their way for the holidays.”
Delta blamed a combination of issues, including winter weather and the impact of the omicron variant, for its 93 Christmas Eve cancellations, as of 8 p.m. Thursday. Four of those were at DIA.
“Delta teams have exhausted all options and resources – including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying – before canceling around 90 flights for Friday," Delta said in a statement to 9NEWS. "We apologize to our customers for the delay in their holiday travel plans. Delta people are working hard to get them to where they need to be as quickly and as safely as possible on the next available flight.”
For Saturday, Delta has canceled 84 flights nationwide (2 at DIA). United has canceled 28 (3 at DIA).
As of Friday at 11:56 a.m., 41 flights have been canceled total at DIA. Passengers heading to DIA this holiday season should check their flights before heading to the airport.
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