Around 1,300 airline flights were simply cancelled in the United States today, as Omicron wreaked its havoc, on top of a just-in-time industry incapable of responding. There were also about 6,000 delays in flights, many for hours. Not only coronavirus infections of pilots and staff, including ground support, but also, e.g., electrical outages in airports, contributed to airport hangars housing hordes of people in close proximity to each other.
Perhaps the most ridiculous cancellation was that of a Delta Airlines flight that was turned around midway in its scheduled trip from Seattle to Shanghai. Later, the airlines offered the explanation that it was China’s fault. Tighter cleaning mandates imposed upon planes landing in China would “require significantly extended ground time and are not operationally viable for Delta.” Perhaps turnaround is fair play ... as China had previously established that they are not operationally viable for Delta (variant).