On Sunday, over 4,000 flights were cancelled throughout the world, with more than half of them being in the United States, adding to the toll of holiday week travel difficulties caused by bad weather and an increase in coronavirus infections caused by the Omicron variety.

According to flight tracking website FlightAware.com, nearly 2,400 flights arriving, departing from, or within the United States had been cancelled by 8 p.m. GMT on Sunday. Over 11,200 flights were delayed worldwide.

SkyWest (SKYW.O) and SouthWest (LUV.N) had the most cancellations, with 510 and 419 cancellations, respectively, according to FlightAware.

The Christmas and New Year’s holidays are traditionally busiest for air travel, but the quick spread of the highly transmissible Omicron form has resulted in a dramatic surge in COVID-19 infections, prompting airlines to postpone flights while pilots and cabin personnel quarantine.
Because of coronavirus-related personnel shortages, transportation agencies across the United States were also stopping or limiting services.

Omicron has resulted in record case counts and dampened New Year’s Eve celebrations throughout the world.
Because of the spike of COVID instances in the United States, numerous firms changed their plans to expand the number of employees working from their offices beginning Monday.

According to Reuters, at least 346,869 new coronavirus cases were reported in the United States on Saturday. The death toll from COVID-19 in the United States has risen at least 377 to 828,562.