Delta, United Airlines cancel 200+ Christmas Eve flights, cite COVID as reason

On Thursday night, FlightAware map noted only 2 cancelations at JAX on Christmas Eve

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Citing a “nationwide spike in Omicron cases,” United Airlines on Thursday announced it is canceling some of its Christmas Eve flights.

A search of the website FlightAware on Thursday night showed 131 United Airlines flights canceled on Christmas Eve. Notably, only two of those appeared to be at Jacksonville International Airport.

A memo shared by the airline reads:

“The nationwide spike in omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation. As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport. We’re sorry for the disruption and are working hard to rebook as many people as possible and get them on their way for the holidays.”

Delta Airlines also made a similar statement Thursday, saying it has “exhausted all options and resources.”

On Thursday night, the FlightAware map showed it had canceled 93 of its Christmas Eve flights.

A statement from a Delta spokesperson shared online:

“Delta teams have exhausted all options and resources -- including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying -- before canceling around 90 flights for Friday. We apologize to our customers for the delay in their holiday travel plans. Delta people are working hard to get them to where they need to be as quickly and as safely as possible on the next available flight.”

The spokesperson noted that the flight cancelations were due to a number of issues, including but not limited to, “potential inclement weather in some areas and the impact of the Omicron variant.”

No Delta flights appeared to be canceled on Christmas Eve at JAX.

Thursday, or the eve of Christmas Eve, is one of the busiest travel days of the year.

Lauren Mangus flew into Jacksonville from Scotland to visit family.

“Three flights, three time zones today. so I’m happy to be home,” Mangus said.

AAA is forecasting more than 109 million people across the country—will travel during the holidays. That’s compared to 81 million last year -- close to a 34% jump.

The Duval County Health Department on Thursday issued a warning, saying it expects another surge of COVID cases in the coming months.

“This is what is unique about omicron -- the fact that it’s more contagious, it’s more transmissible,” said Dr. Chirag Patel, assistant chief medical officer at UF Health Jacksonville.

If you need to get tested, News4JAX has compiled a list of COVID-19 testing sites in Northeast Florida. To find additional testing, as well as vaccination, locations, visit FloridaHealthCOVID19.gov/.

Testing sites at Jacksonville community centers will be closed Thursday and Friday. The beaches site was open Thursday, but it’s closed Friday. They will all reopen Monday.

Omicron has not yet been officially detected in Duval County, but local doctors told News4JAX that they believe it’s already here and that they believe it’s just a matter of time before it’s confirmed.


About the Authors:

Renee Beninate is a Florida native and award-winning reporter who joined the News4Jax team in June 2021.