Delta canceled more than 100 flights as epidemic travel increased

About 100 Delta Air Lines He said the flights were canceled on Sunday due to a lack of staff Reports.

The airline said in a statement Sunday, “We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience, and the majority were re-booked on the same day of travel.”

Some of the staff were experiencing negative side effects from Covid-19 Vaccinations.

“Delta teams are working through various factors, including recruitment, large numbers of employee vaccinations and pilots returning to active status,” the company added in the statement.

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Air travel In the United States it is recovering from the lowest levels of the epidemic. More than a million passengers have passed through US airports in each of the past 20 days, although in March traffic was still roughly half down from the same period in 2019.

The numbers are going up The crucial summer vacation season. Last summer was a disaster for airlines, as it contributed to Delta losing over $ 12 billion throughout the year. Airlines are keen to increase revenue as quickly as possible, and that means selling more seats.

Delta said it welcomed more than 1 million travelers over the past few days, the highest number since before the coronavirus pandemic spread last year.

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The airline has taken steps to increase passenger capacity, including opening the middle seats on Sunday and Monday to accommodate passengers.

On Wednesday, the airline announced that it will stop blocking middle seats starting in May.

The move was taken last April to keep passengers away from each other, a policy that the Delta CEO has repeatedly cited as raising confidence in the airline. The airline said seats will reopen as air travel recovers and more people are vaccinated against COVID-19.

Delta said the middle seats were opened for Sunday and Monday only, and its policy of banning seats has not changed.

When needed, seats can be unblocked for same-day delivery of customers to their destinations.

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The aviation industry has been divided over the benefit of blocking middle seats to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19 on a flight. Airlines including Delta, SouthwestAnd Alaska And Jet Blue Limited seats for months, while United Airlines It did not American He only did that for a while.

Social distancing is difficult, if not impossible, on a plane, even with the middle seats empty – that’s a point United CEO Scott Kirby He came out several times to explain his airline’s resistance to banning seats.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.