- Airlines continued to slash flights in the new year amid rising staff illness and hazardous weather.
- Over 8,000 flights were canceled over new year's weekend, according to FlightAware data.
Worldwide
At the time of writing, data from flight-tracking website FlightAware suggested over 8,000 flights had been canceled over the weekend.
The data showed that on Saturday, 4,740 flights were canceled, while the figure for Sunday was 3,415.
The disruptions came amid an increasing number of Omicron coronavirus variant cases among crew members, as well as hazardous weather conditions.
Chicago was the area most affected by heavy snowfall. Forecasts said up to 9 inches of snow could hit some areas of the city, according to CBS Chicago. More than 400 flights had been axed at O'Hare International Airport and more than 100 at Midway International Airport on Saturday.
Southwest did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
International carrier China Eastern led the list of cancelations after it axed almost 1,000 flights across the weekend.
Mass flight cancelations have plagued the