United AirlinesTo help alleviate a shortage of staff due to the rapid expansion of Covid-19, the company is giving its pilots triple the pay for pick-up trips during January.

United, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, SkyWest, Alaska AirlinesSince Dec. 23, more than 10,000 flights have been cancelled by other airlines. This was due to bad weather, an increase in sick calls and crews who tested positive for Covid.

These disruptions are occurring during the peak days of airline activity since the beginning of the pandemic.

According to FlightAware, nearly 1,500 U.S. airlines cancelled flights on Friday. United has canceled over 200 of its flights. This is about 11% from the airline’s mainline schedule.

United and the pilots’ union, the Air Line Pilots Association reached an agreement to pay higher wages for open flights, Bryan Quigley (United’s senior vice-president of flight operations), said in a staff memo, seen by CNBC.

The note stated that pilots would be paid three and a half times the pay to fly open flights between December 30 and January 3, and triple for picking up travels between Jan. 4 through Jan. 29.

“Due to the rapid spread of the COVID Omicron variant, we are currently seeing record levels of pilot sick calls,” the pilots’ union wrote to its members. “The impact on the operation is clear and United has experienced a correspondingly large number of cancellations over the past week.”

United’s flight attendants get additional pay in order to collect flights. JetBlue and Southwest as well as Spirit Airlines have also increased their crew pay to help avoid disruptions on holiday flights.