Hundreds more flights canceled Sunday, 3rd consecutive day of travel woes during Christmas weekend

GROUNDED. >> WE’RE FLYING TO CLEVELAND. >> TO MICHIGAN. >> TO ORLANDO. >> AT LOGAN AIRPORT, THE LAST MINUTE CHRISTMAS EVE TRAVEL RUSH IS ON, BUT FOR MANY AVTRERS, THE TRIP STARTED WITH DISRUPTIONS. >> I WAS SUPPOSED TO TAKE A FLIGHT WHEN I CAME HERE. THEY SENT ME A TEXT MESSAGE THAT THEY CANCELLED IT, SO THEY SENT ME TO ANOTHER AREA WHERE THEY PUT ME ON ANOTHER IGHT. >> THE DEPARTURES AND ARRIVALS ARBO INSIDE THE TERMINALS SHOW CANCELLATIONS TODAY FOR DELTA, JETBLUE, AND UNITED. IT’S HAPPENING AROUND THE COUNTRY. THE AIRLINES TELL US CANCELLATIONS ARE A LAST REST.OR UNITED AIRLINES SAYS, "THE NATIONWIDE SPIKE IN OMICRON CASES THIS WEEK HAS HAD A DIRECT IMPACT ON OUR FLIGHT CRE ANDWS THE PEOPLE WHO RUN OUR OPERATION. AS A RESULT, WE’VE UNFORTUNATELY HAD TO CANCEL SOME FLIGHTSND A ARE NOTIFYING IMPACTED CUSTOMERS IN ADVANCE OF THEM COMING THETO AIRPORT." EVEN PASSENGERS WHOSE FLIGHTS ARE ON TIME TODAY KNOW THAT THEIR RETU TRNP COULD BE IMPACTED. DELTA IS ALREADY WARNING THAT UPWARDS OF 150 CANCELS ARE EXPECTED SATURDAY AND SUND.AY THE ONLY THING PASSENGERS CAN DO IS MAKE SURE THEY PERSONALLY TAKE PRECAUTIONSO TAY HEALTHY. >> I’M VACCINATED AND BOOSTED. HE’S FULLY VACCINATED, AS OF YESTERDAY, ANDE’ WRE WEARING THE N95, WASHING OUR, WE JUST WENT AND WASHED OUR HANDS, AND TRYING TO BE AS SAFE AS WE CAN. >> HAVE YOU HAD ANY DELAYS OR CANCELLATIONS TO DEAL WITH? >> NO DELAYS OR CANCELLATIONS, JUST THE OMICRON FEAR, BUT WE’RE ALL BOOSTED UP AND MASKED UP, SO HOPEFUWELL’LL BE SAFE. >> THERE’S ANOTHER REASON WHY PEOPLE ARE MISSING FLIGHTS TODAY, AND IT HAS TO DO WITH THE CHALLENGE OF COVID TESNGTI BEFORE BOARDING FLIGHTS FOR SOME DESTINATNS

Airlines canceled hundreds more flights Sunday, citing staffing problems tied to COVID-19, as the nation's travel woes extended beyond Christmas, with no clear indication when normal schedules would resume.More than 700 flights entering, leaving or flying within the U.S. were called off, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. That figure was down from nearly 1,000 on Saturday. More than 50 flights were already canceled for Monday.Delta, United and JetBlue have blamed the omicron variant of the coronavirus for staffing shortages that forced cancellations."This was unexpected," United spokesperson Maddie King said of omicron’s impact on staffing.Globally, airlines scrapped about 2,200 flights as of Sunday morning, down from more than 2,800 from the day before, FlightAware’s data showed. The site does not say why flights are canceled.JetBlue scrapped 10% of its flights Sunday. Delta canceled 5% and United canceled 4%, according to FlightAware. The three airlines canceled more than 10% of their scheduled flights on Saturday.American Airlines spokesperson Derek Walls said the Christmas cancellations stemmed from virus-related sick calls.In other pandemic developments, the nation's second Christmas in the shadow of COVID-19 sharply lifted holiday sales, which rose at the fastest pace in 17 years, even as shoppers grappled with higher prices, product shortages and the omicron variant in the last few weeks of the season, according to one spending measure.Mastercard Spending Pulse, which tracks all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards, reported Sunday that holiday sales had risen 8.5% from a year earlier. Mastercard SpendingPulse had expected a 7.4% increase.The results, which covered Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, were fueled by purchases of clothing and jewelry. Holiday sales were up 10.7% compared with the pre-pandemic 2019 holiday period.Also Sunday, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor acknowledged that he was frustrated with the limited supply of COVID-19 tests.Demand for tests has risen amid the surge fueled by the omicron variant. "We’ve obviously got to do better," Dr. Anthony Fauci said an interview that aired Sunday on ABC’s "This Week.""I think things will improve greatly as we get into January, but that doesn’t help us today and tomorrow," Fauci said.Fauci said he was pleased with evidence that omicron causes less severe illness for most people. But he warned against complacency because the rapid spread of the disease could "override a real diminution in severity," because so many more people could get infected.Meanwhile in Europe, France recorded more than 100,000 virus infections in a single day for the first time in the pandemic. COVID-19 hospitalizations have doubled over the past month as omicron complicates the French government’s efforts to stave off a new lockdown.More than 1 in 100 people in the Paris region have tested positive in the past week, according to the regional health service. Most new infections are linked to omicron, which government experts predict will be dominant in France in the coming days. Omicron is already dominant in Britain, right across the English Channel.France's overall death toll stands at more than 122,000.President Emmanuel Macron’s government planned emergency meetings for Monday to discuss the next steps. Some scientists and educators have urged delaying the post-holiday return to school or suggested re-imposing a curfew.

More than 700 flights entering, leaving or flying within the U.S. were called off, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware. That figure was down from nearly 1,000 on Saturday. More than 50 flights were already canceled for Monday.

Delta, United and JetBlue have blamed the omicron variant of the coronavirus for staffing shortages that forced cancellations.

"This was unexpected," United spokesperson Maddie King said of omicron’s impact on staffing.

Globally, airlines scrapped about 2,200 flights as of Sunday morning, down from more than 2,800 from the day before, FlightAware’s data showed. The site does not say why flights are canceled.

JetBlue scrapped 10% of its flights Sunday. Delta canceled 5% and United canceled 4%, according to FlightAware. The three airlines canceled more than 10% of their scheduled flights on Saturday.

American Airlines spokesperson Derek Walls said the Christmas cancellations stemmed from virus-related sick calls.

In other pandemic developments, the nation's second Christmas in the shadow of COVID-19 sharply lifted holiday sales, which rose at the fastest pace in 17 years, even as shoppers grappled with higher prices, product shortages and the omicron variant in the last few weeks of the season, according to one spending measure.

Mastercard Spending Pulse, which tracks all kinds of payments including cash and debit cards, reported Sunday that holiday sales had risen 8.5% from a year earlier. Mastercard SpendingPulse had expected a 7.4% increase.

The results, which covered Nov. 1 through Dec. 24, were fueled by purchases of clothing and jewelry. Holiday sales were up 10.7% compared with the pre-pandemic 2019 holiday period.

Also Sunday, the nation’s top infectious disease doctor acknowledged that he was frustrated with the limited supply of COVID-19 tests.

Demand for tests has risen amid the surge fueled by the omicron variant. "We’ve obviously got to do better," Dr. Anthony Fauci said an interview that aired Sunday on ABC’s "This Week."

"I think things will improve greatly as we get into January, but that doesn’t help us today and tomorrow," Fauci said.

Fauci said he was pleased with evidence that omicron causes less severe illness for most people. But he warned against complacency because the rapid spread of the disease could "override a real diminution in severity," because so many more people could get infected.

Meanwhile in Europe, France recorded more than 100,000 virus infections in a single day for the first time in the pandemic. COVID-19 hospitalizations have doubled over the past month as omicron complicates the French government’s efforts to stave off a new lockdown.

More than 1 in 100 people in the Paris region have tested positive in the past week, according to the regional health service. Most new infections are linked to omicron, which government experts predict will be dominant in France in the coming days. Omicron is already dominant in Britain, right across the English Channel.

France's overall death toll stands at more than 122,000.

President Emmanuel Macron’s government planned emergency meetings for Monday to discuss the next steps. Some scientists and educators have urged delaying the post-holiday return to school or suggested re-imposing a curfew.

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