Canadian air travelers are seeing an increase in flight cancellations this Christmas season, but airlines say weather is a bigger factor than COVID-19.
Canada’s largest airlines canceled hundreds of flights between December 22 and December 26.
Airline data company Cirium said Flair Airlines canceled nine percent of its scheduled flights, while WestJet Airlines Ltd. canceled seven percent of its flights.
Air Canada canceled four percent of its scheduled flights during the period.
American airlines have also canceled a large number of flights this Christmas season. Delta Air Lines and United Airlines said they canceled flights due to staff shortages related to the Omicron variant.
But Canadian airlines say most of their cancellations have been weather-related. Snow and icy weather in western Canada have caused travel disruptions.
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In a statement sent to Global News, a WestJet spokesperson said the past few days were some of the busiest since before the pandemic, with nearly 50,000 guests a day and more than 500 flights.
“While weather is definitely a major factor affecting stations across western Canada in recent days, including BC, Alta., Sask. and Man., other factors affect operations, including maintenance, air traffic control and staffing, ”the email read.
“Right now, we have the right staff to support the busy holiday travel season in late December and early January. Ahead of peak season, WestJet has been actively retiring and hiring with the expectation that we will reach 9,000 fully trained WestJetters by the end of the year, which is more than twice the WestJetters at our lowest point in the pandemic. “
The company said it has also added more than 600 new contact center agents since June to help with the volume increase.
–With files from Jessika Guse, Global News
© 2021 The Canadian Press
Reference-globalnews.ca