JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ:JBLU) is cutting more than 1,280 flights from Thursday through mid-January in anticipation of more COVID-19 infections among pilots and flight attendants.
New York-based JetBlue and other carriers, including United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAL), Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) and American Airlines (NASDAQ:AAL), have canceled more than 4,000 flights since Christmas Eve, struggling with bad weather and a surge in sick calls from crews.
"This past week has been one of our most difficult operating periods during the pandemic," three JetBlue department leaders wrote Tuesday in a note to staff. "The exponential growth in omicron cases over just a couple of days is at a level that no one could reasonably prepare for."
JetBlue canceled 173 flights, or 17% of its schedule Thursday, while more than 1,000 flights were canceled nationwide, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. United, meanwhile canceled 188 flights, or 8% of its mainline schedule, while regional airline SkyWest (NASDAQ:SKYW) dropped 144, or 6%. Seattle-based Alaska Airlines (NYSE:ALK) canceled 95 flights, 14% of what it planned to fly.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday cut its recommended isolation time to five days from 10 for individuals who have tested positive for COVID but are asymptomatic.
JetBlue had followed Delta last week in urging the CDC to halve its guidance for isolation for breakthrough COVID cases to five days, warning about staffing shortages and flight disruptions as omicron was rapidly spreading. Other airlines followed suit.
JBLU shares nicked up five cents to $14.43.
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