Skift Take
Four days straight of flight cancellations is scaring Wall Street, which discarded its travel holdings on Monday as new uncertainty go back to the market.
Tom Lowry
Shares of U.S. airline companies and other travel-related companies fell on Monday as increasing Omicron cases and weather-related problems forced the cancellation of hundreds more flights, leaving travelers stranded across the nation throughout the holidays.
Over 800 flights were canceled within, into, or out of the United States on Monday, data from flight-tracking site FlightAware.com revealed.
That was on top of over 3,000 flight cancellations during the Christmas vacation weekend, normally a peak time for travel for Americans.
Shares of American Airlines Group Inc, United Airlines Holdings Inc, Delta Air Lines Inc and Southwest Airlines Co were down between 0.2% and 0.8%.
Many airline stocks have actually rallied this year on hopes of a travel boom as tourists start visiting loved ones after dealing with pandemic-related constraints last year.
However, staff lacks at airlines, weather-related disruptions and now the fast-spreading Omicron variation have actually interrupted flights often this year.
Poor weather in some locations has also added to travelers issues.
Southwest Airlines stated it had canceled about 50 of the 3,600 flights arranged Monday due to weather-related issues.
Delta and United did not react to Reuters’ requests for comment, while American Airlines indicated its declaration on Saturday that said the provider needed to cancel flights due to “COVID-related sick calls”.
Individually, the Shanghai federal government said on Monday that the country’s aviation regulator would suspend two China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd flights from New york city to Shanghai from Jan. 3 due to increasing COVID-19 cases.
Other travel stocks likewise came under pressure as Omicron activates fears of tougher constraints.
Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd and Carnival Corp were down between 1.1% and 2.3%.
Carnival Corp said it had isolated a little number of travelers on board its Carnival Liberty cruise ship due to favorable COVID-19 test outcomes. All passengers from the cruise journey disembarked on Sunday, and the ship departed Monday afternoon on its next organized trip, it included.
Travel firms Airbnb Inc, Expedia Group Inc and Tripadvisor Inc fell between 0.4% and 1%.
Hotel operators Marriott International Inc and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc were down partially.
(Reporting by Aishwarya Nair and Abhijith Ganapavaram in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh; Editing by Anil D’Silva)
This short article was written by Aishwarya Nair and Abhijith Ganapavaram from Reuters and was lawfully certified through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to [e-mail secured]
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