By Sam Boughedda
Investing.com — Delta Air Lines Inc (NYSE:DAL) announced Tuesday that it expects to cancel up to 250 of 4,133 scheduled mainline and Delta connection flights today.
The airline said winter weather conditions in the Pacific Northwest and Midwest and the Omicron variant are affecting its operations.
Although the variant is said to be milder compared to previous ones, it is more transmissible, meaning that workers who test positive, even if asymptomatic, have to isolate. It has resulted in businesses such as airlines being unable to stay open or being forced to cut services because of worker shortages.
On Monday, U.S. public health officials changed their recommendation on isolation after infection, saying those who are asymptomatic only have to isolate for five days, compared with the previous guidance of 10 days while also shortening the time that close contacts need to quarantine.
"We apologize to customers for the delay in their travel plans. Delta people are continuing to work together around the clock to reroute and substitute aircraft and crews to get customers where they need to be as quickly and safely as possible," Delta said in its statement.
Delta's shares are rebounding from being down on Monday, currently up 2%.