(Bloomberg). Increasing coronavirus infections have forced the cancellation of 1,125 US flights. Winter storms threatened to further disrupt travel over New Year’s weekend.

JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ) Corp. cancelled 175 flights. This account accounted for 17% according to FlightAware.com. Allegiant cancelled 95 flights. This represents 19% of the airline’s service. United Airlines Holdings Inc. cancelled 199 flights. This represents 9% of the airline’s schedule. 

This is after many flights were cancelled over the Christmas holiday weekend, and into the week ahead. These cancellations resulted from winter storms, coupled with shortages in staff due to the coronavirus spread.

“Like many businesses and organizations, we have seen a surge in the number of sick calls from omicron,” JetBlue said by email. JetBlue, a New York-based carrier, reduced its January schedule in order to allow customers the time they need to plan. 

While federal guidance reducing the isolation period for many people testing positive to five days from 10 is expected to help staffing, “we expect the number of Covid cases in the Northeast — where most of our crew members are based –- to continue to surge for the next week or two,” JetBlue said.

United and Allegiant Travel Co. both cited staff shortages related to omicron. 

Weakening Outlook

Global travel outlook has been affected by border restrictions and personnel problems. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (OTC) Ltd. nearly halved Hong Kong’s number of international flights next month. British Airways intends to cancel flights into the territory until March.

This effect is expected to continue well into next year. According to data from BloombergNEF which monitors demand for jetfuel, airlines around the world have cancelled 8.4% off their January flights. 

After some countries put new restrictions on crossing-border travel in an attempt to curb the spread of micron, the European drop was even greater, with 15% of January flights being cancelled. France eased one concern for U.K. nationals, saying they will be allowed to travel through to other destinations by car, train or plane, though most Britons aren’t able to stay in France without a compelling reason.

U.S. U.S. Weather

According to BloomergNEF, only 3.9% of the planned flights for the next month are being cancelled.

According to the Transportation Security Administration, it had screened 2.22 million Americans on Wednesday.

FlightAware reports that Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Denver were the worst affected by cancellations Thursday afternoon due to strong winds and heavy precipitation.

It is unlikely that there will be any relief this weekend.

Heavy snow is expected in much of the West on Thursday, according to the National Weather Service, while snow and an icy mix are “expected to paint a swath of hazardous travel conditions New Year’s Day from the front range of the Rockies to the Midwest and Great Lakes.” More than 650 flights already have been canceled for Friday and about 400 are already scratched for Saturday.

U.S. airlines probably won’t see much impact on earnings, said Cowen analyst Helane Becker. She said that most canceled flights would be rebooked, and that carriers might use larger aircraft to consolidate their service.

“The airlines are doing their best to accommodate passengers,” Becker said by email. “But as it affects earnings, we don’t think it’s going to be significant to fourth-quarter results.”

(Updates regarding global flight schedules in Hong Kong, starting from the seventh paragraph

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