周末假日结束之后,美国各地有数千名旅客滞留机场,航班取消和延误一直持续到周一。但《财富》杂志采访的几位专家表示,到下周末情况会有所好转。
跟踪全球航班运行的网站FlightAware. com的数据显示,截至周一中午,有超过950架次出入境美国的航班被取消,超过2,400架次航班延误。
FlightAware的数据显示,阿拉斯加航空(Alaska Airlines)18%的航班被取消,另有12%的航班出现延误。捷蓝航空(JetBlue)和精神航空(Spirit)同样受到很大的影响,有6%的航班被取消,超过10%的航班延误。
换个角度来说,据美国交通统计局(Bureau of Transportation Statistics)统计,2019年美国只有2.15%的航班被取消。
大量航班被取消
航空公司受到的影响不尽相同,旅客也是如此。
例如,美联航空(United Airlines)发言人告诉《财富》杂志,由于与奥米克戎病例有关的人员配备问题,该航空公司周一取消了115架次航班,约占超过4,000架次定期航班的2.9%。(FlightAware计算的比例为4%。)
该公司在一份声明中表示:“美国奥米克戎病例激增,对我们的机组人员和工作人员产生了直接影响。”该公司表示已在周末提前联系旅客,通知其航班是否取消,使他们有时间重新订票或调整计划。其还表示到目前为止,其约50%的旅客已经提前抵达目的地,或者在预定航班4小时以内抵达目的地。
周一,美国航空(American Airlines)也取消了约2%的航班。美国航空发言人在提供给《财富》杂志的一份声明中表示:“很可惜,一些员工因为患有新冠肺炎申请病假,导致我们不得不做出艰难的决定,提前取消原定于今天发出的多个架次航班。”
西南航空(Southwest Airlines)发言人在周一告诉《财富》杂志,在今年节日期间,该航空公司并没有因为工作人员当中爆发疫情而遭遇运营问题。该公司表示,今天上午“在3,600多架次定期航班中,我们因为冬季天气原因取消了约50个架次。”
阿拉斯加航空对《财富》杂志表示,太平洋西北部地区的寒冬天气对阿拉斯加航空的运营产生了严重影响。到目前为止,该公司在周一取消了从西雅图发出的超过248架次航班,周一取消了120架次。
达美航空(Delta)周一表示,由于冬季天气影响了其在明尼阿波利斯-圣保罗、西雅图和盐湖城(SLC)的航运中心,并且奥米克戎变异株持续影响公司的运营,因此该公司预计将取消4,166架次定期干线航班和Delta Connection航班中的200架次。
希望的曙光
证券公司Cowen的航空公司分析师何琳娜·贝克表示,随着奥米克戎变异株的广泛传播,美国航空公司的机组人员也受到了影响。机组人员不希望被困在某个地方,因为目前的防疫规定要求新冠检测呈阳性的人员必须隔离10天,这也是航空公司出现问题的原因之一。
但这种情况可能正在发生改变。达美航空要求将隔离时间缩短至5天,贝克认为这可以解决部分问题。更换飞机也可以减轻人员不足的问题。
贝克告诉《财富》杂志:“我们认为短期内,强劲的需求和高航班取消率可能会给航空公司带来困扰,但他们会尽量合并航班,用更大型的飞机取代小型飞机。”她估计5%至10%的航空公司业务会受到影响。
贝克表示,随着下周节日出行旺季结束,美国出行人数会有所减少,因此人员不足问题能够得到缓解。贝克估计,出行淡季会持续到2月中旬,之后旅客会逐步增加,这种趋势会一直持续到夏季。
致力于解决消费者出行问题的非营利组织旅行者联盟(Travelers United)的总裁查理·莱奥查认为,新年过后航班取消和延误的问题会有所缓解。他表示:“航班取消和航空公司无法将旅客送达目的地这些问题,在节日结束之后会有所好转。莱奥查称:“目前大部分航班满员或载客率至少达到约90%。因此我们目前的状况导致了大批航班延误。人们并没有真正放弃休假,待在家中。”
但贝克认为,商务出行将在人们恢复上班2至4周之后才会恢复。但她表示,美国的商务出行可能在2022年底恢复到疫情之前80%的水平。
据约翰斯·霍普金斯大学医学院(Johns Hopkins University & Medicine)统计,目前,美国七天平均每日新增新冠确诊病例184,802例。但美国国立健康研究院(National Institutes of Health)院长弗朗西斯·柯林斯最近警告,随着奥米克戎变异株的传播,美国可能很快达到每日新增百万病例。美国疾病预防控制中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)公布的数据显示,截至12月18日的短短一周内,奥米克戎感染者在美国已公布的新冠确诊病例中所占的比例从12.6%提高到73.2%。(财富中文网)
译者:刘进龙
审校:汪皓
周末假日结束之后,美国各地有数千名旅客滞留机场,航班取消和延误一直持续到周一。但《财富》杂志采访的几位专家表示,到下周末情况会有所好转。
跟踪全球航班运行的网站FlightAware. com的数据显示,截至周一中午,有超过950架次出入境美国的航班被取消,超过2,400架次航班延误。
FlightAware的数据显示,阿拉斯加航空(Alaska Airlines)18%的航班被取消,另有12%的航班出现延误。捷蓝航空(JetBlue)和精神航空(Spirit)同样受到很大的影响,有6%的航班被取消,超过10%的航班延误。
换个角度来说,据美国交通统计局(Bureau of Transportation Statistics)统计,2019年美国只有2.15%的航班被取消。
大量航班被取消
航空公司受到的影响不尽相同,旅客也是如此。
例如,美联航空(United Airlines)发言人告诉《财富》杂志,由于与奥米克戎病例有关的人员配备问题,该航空公司周一取消了115架次航班,约占超过4,000架次定期航班的2.9%。(FlightAware计算的比例为4%。)
该公司在一份声明中表示:“美国奥米克戎病例激增,对我们的机组人员和工作人员产生了直接影响。”该公司表示已在周末提前联系旅客,通知其航班是否取消,使他们有时间重新订票或调整计划。其还表示到目前为止,其约50%的旅客已经提前抵达目的地,或者在预定航班4小时以内抵达目的地。
周一,美国航空(American Airlines)也取消了约2%的航班。美国航空发言人在提供给《财富》杂志的一份声明中表示:“很可惜,一些员工因为患有新冠肺炎申请病假,导致我们不得不做出艰难的决定,提前取消原定于今天发出的多个架次航班。”
西南航空(Southwest Airlines)发言人在周一告诉《财富》杂志,在今年节日期间,该航空公司并没有因为工作人员当中爆发疫情而遭遇运营问题。该公司表示,今天上午“在3,600多架次定期航班中,我们因为冬季天气原因取消了约50个架次。”
阿拉斯加航空对《财富》杂志表示,太平洋西北部地区的寒冬天气对阿拉斯加航空的运营产生了严重影响。到目前为止,该公司在周一取消了从西雅图发出的超过248架次航班,周一取消了120架次。
达美航空(Delta)周一表示,由于冬季天气影响了其在明尼阿波利斯-圣保罗、西雅图和盐湖城(SLC)的航运中心,并且奥米克戎变异株持续影响公司的运营,因此该公司预计将取消4,166架次定期干线航班和Delta Connection航班中的200架次。
希望的曙光
证券公司Cowen的航空公司分析师何琳娜·贝克表示,随着奥米克戎变异株的广泛传播,美国航空公司的机组人员也受到了影响。机组人员不希望被困在某个地方,因为目前的防疫规定要求新冠检测呈阳性的人员必须隔离10天,这也是航空公司出现问题的原因之一。
但这种情况可能正在发生改变。达美航空要求将隔离时间缩短至5天,贝克认为这可以解决部分问题。更换飞机也可以减轻人员不足的问题。
贝克告诉《财富》杂志:“我们认为短期内,强劲的需求和高航班取消率可能会给航空公司带来困扰,但他们会尽量合并航班,用更大型的飞机取代小型飞机。”她估计5%至10%的航空公司业务会受到影响。
贝克表示,随着下周节日出行旺季结束,美国出行人数会有所减少,因此人员不足问题能够得到缓解。贝克估计,出行淡季会持续到2月中旬,之后旅客会逐步增加,这种趋势会一直持续到夏季。
致力于解决消费者出行问题的非营利组织旅行者联盟(Travelers United)的总裁查理·莱奥查认为,新年过后航班取消和延误的问题会有所缓解。他表示:“航班取消和航空公司无法将旅客送达目的地这些问题,在节日结束之后会有所好转。莱奥查称:“目前大部分航班满员或载客率至少达到约90%。因此我们目前的状况导致了大批航班延误。人们并没有真正放弃休假,待在家中。”
但贝克认为,商务出行将在人们恢复上班2至4周之后才会恢复。但她表示,美国的商务出行可能在2022年底恢复到疫情之前80%的水平。
据约翰斯·霍普金斯大学医学院(Johns Hopkins University & Medicine)统计,目前,美国七天平均每日新增新冠确诊病例184,802例。但美国国立健康研究院(National Institutes of Health)院长弗朗西斯·柯林斯最近警告,随着奥米克戎变异株的传播,美国可能很快达到每日新增百万病例。美国疾病预防控制中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)公布的数据显示,截至12月18日的短短一周内,奥米克戎感染者在美国已公布的新冠确诊病例中所占的比例从12.6%提高到73.2%。(财富中文网)
译者:刘进龙
审校:汪皓
After a holiday weekend that saw thousands of travelers stranded in airports around the country, flight cancellations and delays are bleeding into Monday. But several experts contacted by Fortune say the situation should ease by the end of next week.
On Monday, more than 950 flights in and out of the U.S. had been canceled and more than 2,400 delayed by noon, according to FlightAware.com, which tracks global flight operations.
A full 18% of Alaska Airlines flights were canceled on Monday, and another 12% were delayed, according to FlightAware. JetBlue and Spirit were also hit hard, each canceling 6% of their flights and delaying more than 10%.
To put that in perspective, prior to the pandemic, 2.15% of U.S. flights were canceled in 2019, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Wave of cancellations
Not all airlines—and therefore not all travelers—have suffered equally.
United Airlines, for instance, canceled 115 flights on Monday due to staffing issues related to Omicron cases—about 2.9% of its more than 4,000 scheduled flights, a spokesperson for the airline tells Fortune. (FlightAware put the number at 4%.)
“The nationwide spike in Omicron cases has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation,” United said in a statement. Throughout the weekend, United said it contacted passengers early if their flight was set to be canceled to give them time to rebook or make other plans. So far, about 50% of United passengers have arrived at their final destination either early or within four hours of their originally scheduled flight, the airline said.
American Airlines has also canceled about 2% of its flights on Monday so far. “Unfortunately a number of COVID-related sick calls led us to make the difficult decision to precancel some flights scheduled for today,” an American Airlines spokesperson said in a statement to Fortune.
Meanwhile a Southwest Airlines spokesperson told Fortune on Monday that the company has not experienced operational issues this holiday period due to COVID outbreaks among its personnel. “Out of our more than 3,600 scheduled flights, we’ve canceled about 50 because of winter weather conditions" this morning, Southwest said.
Severe winter weather in the Pacific Northwest is having a significant impact on Alaska's operations, the airline told Fortune. So far, Alaska canceled more than 248 flights from Seattle on Sunday and 120 flights throughout Monday.
Delta said Monday that it expects to cancel 200 of 4,166 scheduled mainline and Delta Connection flights thanks to winter weather impacting its hubs in Minneapolis–St. Paul, Seattle, and Salt Lake City (SLC); the Omicron variant continues to hamper Delta’s operations.
End in sight
As Omicron works its way through the general population, it’s spreading among U.S. flight crews as well, says Helane Becker, an airline analyst at securities firm Cowen. The fact that crews don’t want to get stuck somewhere—quarantine rules currently stipulate that personnel who test positive need to limit contact for 10 days—is also part of the problem.
But that may be shifting. Delta asked for the quarantine time frame to be shortened to five days, which Becker says could alleviate some of the problem. Changing planes could also ease the shortages.
"We think the short term will be beset by strong demand and high cancellations, but the airlines will do their best to combine flights and use larger aircraft in place of smaller aircraft,” Becker told Fortune, estimating between 5% and 10% of airline operations will be affected.
After the holiday travel period ends next week, Becker says the staffing crunch should ease up as fewer Americans are expected to travel. Becker estimates the downturn will last through mid-February before travel picks back up with an upturn that lasts through the summer months.
Charlie Leocha, president of Travelers United, a nonprofit that focuses on consumer issues with travel, agrees flight cancellations and delays will likely ease after New Year’s. “The big issues with the cancellations and the inability of the airlines to move people around are going to drop a little bit after the holidays,” he says. “Right now most flights are going out full or at least around 90%. So the situation we’re in right now with that has led to a lot of the delays,” Leocha says. “The abandonment of vacations and people staying home has not really come to fruition.”
Business travel, however, won’t come back until two to four weeks after return to office, according to Becker. But she says the U.S. will likely be within 80% of pre-pandemic levels by year-end 2022.
Currently, the seven-day average of new daily COVID cases in the U.S. is 184,802, according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine. But Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, recently warned the U.S. could soon see 1 million new cases per day thanks to the Omicron variant. In a week, Omicron went from accounting for 12.6% of all reported U.S. cases of COVID-19 to 73.2% as of Dec. 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.