By Dhirendra Tripathi

Investing.com – Shares of airline companies were trading mixed in Thursday’s premarket as cases of cancellations continue to pour in, giving rise to fears that the long-delayed return to net profitability of the carriers may have to wait longer.

Delta Air (NYSE 🙂 and JetBlue Airways, (NASDAQ 🙂 both declined 0.6% while American Airlines (NASDAQ 🙂 was 0.3% lower. United Airlines (NASDAQ) was flat, while Southwest Airlines (NYSE:) was up 0.3%. Alaska Air Both (NYSE:) shares were up 0.2% The shares of Spirit Airlines (NYSE:) are yet to be traded.

JetBlue Airways announced Thursday that it would reduce its January schedule. The Wall Street Journal reported that the airline would cancel around 1,280 flights from January 13 so passengers have time to plan and not be surprised by last-minute changes.

Inclement weather conditions, such as snow or strong winds, a shortage in staff and many becoming sick, have combined to cause flight cancellations at airlines that are now on their seventh day.

A New York Times database shows that Fresh Covid cases reached 488,000 by Wednesday in the United States. This is an unprecedented record.

In the chaos, many flights were cancelled.

Christmas Day saw 997 cancellations and Christmas Eve saw nearly 700. FlightAware tracked almost 1,300 cancellations on Tuesday, and nearly 1,000 on Wednesday. Today, more than 800 flights are already cancelled.

Alaska Air Group asked its fliers Tuesday to delay any non-essential travel until next year.