United Airlines Holdings Inc. is reducing its near-term flight schedule as the airline grapples with the staffing impact of the rapidly spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus.
“In one day alone at Newark, nearly one-third of our workforce called out sick,” United Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby wrote Tuesday in a memo to workers. “To those who are out sick or isolating, we wish you a speedy recovery.”
About 3,000 of its workers are currently positive for Covid-19, the CEO said. United is among multiple U.S. carriers whacked by a recent surge in omicron infections nationwide, which resulted in tens of thousands of flight cancellations across the industry during the holiday travel period.
