Airline Industry Analyst: Airlines Are Not Prepared for Omicron

Just when people are willing to travel again, US airlines are dealing with staffing shortages because of the omicron variant. Travelers experienced two consecutive days mass cancelations on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The majority of canceled flights came from Delta, United, and JetBlue. For Henry Harteveldt, an airline industry analyst, airlines are not ready for the omicron variant.

Harteveldt said that “It’s disappointing that it appears airlines didn’t do any scenario planning”. He added that airlines typically cancel flights as a last resort.

Possible Vaccine Requirement Amid Increasing Number of Omicron Cases

As COVID19 cases increase in the US once again, lawmakers are looking to require COVID19 vaccination for domestic travel. But for Harteveldt, he believes that this is unnecessary. Hardveldt’s company conducted a study on 5,000 travelers in November. He said that “We know that at least 86% of airline passengers are fully vaccinated, so that’s considerable more than the general population in the United States”.

He also discussed the recent move by the federal government to reduce the quarantine period for healthcare workers. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allowed healthcare workers to return to work after just 7 days of quarantine instead of 10 days as long as they no longer exhibit symptoms and should test negative for COVID19. For Harteveldt, he believes that this should also apply to airline workers too.

Shorter Quarantine Period for Airline Workers?

Airlines for America requested the CDC to shorten the quarantine period for vaccinated airline workers infected by COVID19. The airline trade group wanted to cut the 10-day quarantine period to just five days. Both JetBlue and Delta also sent a separate letter to the agency requesting to cut the quarantine period. The reason for these requests is to alleviate worker shortages.

Sara Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants said on Wednesday that the request “may put flight attendants in a position to be forced to come back before they feel better”. She called the new omicron variant “really concerning”.

The CDC on Thursday said that it “continues to evaluate isolation and quarantine recommendations for the broader population”.