208 Flights Canceled At LAX On New Year's Day

LOS ANGELES, CA — More than 200 flights that were scheduled at Los Angeles International Airport were canceled on New Years Day, inconveniencing holiday travelers.

The wave of cancelations were blamed on weather issues and airline staffing shortages due to a winter surge of COVID-19, likely triggered by the omicron variant.

Smaller airports in the Southland were also affected by staffing shortages. Nine flights were canceled at John Wayne Airport, six were canceled at Long Beach Airport and five were canceled at the Hollywood/Burbank Airport.

"Nationwide, airline cancellations and delays continue due to staffing shortages and weather," LAX tweeted Saturday morning. "Please do check your flight status for the latest. Currently, 79% of all flights scheduled today at LAX are operating on time."

Last week, travelers experienced a similar scenario, when 4,240 flights were canceled around the world. Some 2,452 were flights into or out of the United States.

City News Service contributed to this report.