travel: Why airline travel was so chaotic this holiday season

Sometimes, a bunch of things happen all at once that create chaos.

Travelers over the recent holiday season were met with delays, cancellations and a lot of frustration. A new report details how a variety of elements came together to wreak havoc on the airline industry.

Thousands of travelers were hit with major delays since Christmas Eve, according to a report from the Associated Press. While the holiday season is already one of the busiest times of the year and is prone to problems, the pandemic continued to cause problems.

Workers infected with the omicron variant were forced to call out of work for extended periods of time, leaving airlines short-staffed at one of the worst moments. The problem was made much worse by the fact that many airlines were already working with a reduced number of staff members.

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Holiday crowds returned to the airports just as the omicron variant was causing staff members to call out sick.
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While the omicron variant did cause a spike in infections, travelers still took to airports in large numbers.

To make matters worse, cold weather and heavy snowstorms struck areas in the Northwest, causing even more issues.

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Airlines are reducing their schedules for January to help get their schedules back on track after the holidays.
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The result was airlines were forced to delay or cancel thousands of flights starting on Christmas Eve.

In response, airlines have decided to reduce their schedules for January. While the month usually sees a reprieve from the heavy holiday crowds, the airlines are hoping that reducing the schedule in advance will help travelers adjust their plans ahead of time as opposed to forcing thousands of people to scramble at the last minute.

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The report describes the holiday season and the resulting cancellations as an extreme set of circumstances, and experts are hoping that travel can return to normal in the coming months.