TAMPA, Fla. — Flight cancellations surged again on the last day of 2021, with airlines blaming it on crew shortages related to the spike in COVID-19 infections.
By late evening Friday on the East Coast, airlines scrubbed more than 1,600 U.S. flights, according to tracking service FlightAware. The disruptions are likely to inconvenience hundreds of thousands of air travelers over the New Year’s holiday weekend.
Already airlines have canceled 1,700 flights for Saturday. Canceled flights began rising shortly before Christmas, driven by the remnants of the delta variant and the rise of the new omicron variant of COVID-19.
Cancellations and delays have affected traffic at Tampa International Airport, as well. The hub reported 23 flights canceled Friday, with 84 delays.
Already for Saturday, 33 cancellations are reported, with the majority of those driven by Southwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines.
People are encouraged to check with their carrier on the day of travel hours prior to traveling to the airport.
10 Tampa Bay's Andrew Krietz contributed to this report.