US airlines cancel hundreds of flights amid Omicron surge

Airlines in the US have canceled hundreds of flights worldwide amid the spike in Omicron cases. 

United, Delta and other U.S. airlines have canceled more than 600 Christmas Eve flights as a surge in COVID-19 cases impacts their staff,  reported CBS News. 

A quarter of the more than 4,000 flights canceled worldwide on Friday and Saturday were in the US, reported BBC quoting the website Flightaware.

The cancellations came as the Transportation Safety Administration said the number of people traveling for the holiday is returning to pre-pandemic levels.

"The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation," a United Airlines spokesperson told CBS News in a statement. 

"As a result, we've unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport." 

As of late Friday afternoon, 627 flights within, to and from the U.S previously scheduled for December 24 have been canceled, according to FlightAware. United had canceled over 175 flights, Delta called off 150, and JetBlue scrubbed 72, data from the real-time tracking service showed.