Alaska Airlines Plans 10% Cutback In Flights In January, Citing COVID-19 Staffing Issues

By Editor, Times of San Diego

January 6, 2022

Alaska Airlines, a unit of Alaska Air Group, said on Thursday it will reduce its flight departures by about 10% through the end of January.

Officials attributed the decision to a surge in Omicron infections and a rise in employees calling in sick.

“As we have entered 2022, the continued impacts of Omicron have been disruptive in all our lives and unprecedented employee sick calls have impacted our ability to operate our airline reliably,” the company said in a statement.

The reduction, according to the statement, will allow the airline to find the “flexibility and capacity needed to reset while continued flexible travel policies enable guests to adjust their plans accordingly.”

The officials added that “we apologize for the considerable inconvenience and are working hard to return to the level of service (customers) know and expect from us.”

The airline’s decision follows on the heels of mass flight cancellations that disrupted holiday travel this season. CNN reported that more than 14,000 flights have been canceled since late December for reasons that included extreme weather and the impact of COVID-19 on employees.

The disruption hit San Diego as well, beginning on Christmas Eve. Alaska operates out of Terminal 2 at San Diego International Airport.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Times of San Diego is an independent online news site covering the San Diego metropolitan area. Our journalists report on politics, crime, business, sports, education, arts, the military and everyday life in San Diego. No subscription is required, and you can sign up for a free daily newsletter with a summary of the latest news.