Travelers all around the world have been experiencing delayed flights and more prominently canceled flights. This is a new reality for many people due to the long-lasting pandemic. While travel increased tremendously during the holiday season, many people are having problems getting home because of COVID-19 and the new Omicron variant. 

Since a large number of the workers were laid off last year due to the pandemic, many have not returned, leaving many airports understaffed and needing help. A large portion of the working employees are being infected causing an even bigger strain on the airlines. Airports do not have adequate help for the basic activities like pulling baggage for people who have canceled flights. 

According to Bloomberg.com, over 400,000 airline workers got fired or left due to COVID-19. There is a very prominent and large hole that people need to fill in order to keep the airlines and airports from shutting down. Another reason why people are having their flights canceled is because of weather delays or airplane malfunctions. One example would be the recent snowstorm that went through the east coast, causing many travelers to be inconvenienced with postponed flights. 

Jason Pevitt, a 28-year old man featured on ABCNEWS.go.com experienced these recent problems firsthand. He was trying to come home after a family vacation to Florida when his connecting flight from Washington National Airport was canceled because of the weather. He rebooked and was sent to Atlanta in hopes of getting home to Virginia but got hit with another cancellation. This left Pevitt stuck in the Atlanta airport for more than eight hours on Monday evening. 

“There is just never a reason given for anything. That’s my biggest issue,” said Pivett. 

Many other people have encountered problems just like these and are using social platforms such as Twitter and Instagram to share their stories and thoughts about these issues. 

According to the New York Times 3,000 flights were canceled due to the weather, airplane malfunction and other problems on Monday alone. Over the 10-day holiday break, 15,000 flights were canceled: Southwest and SkyWest airlines accounting for an immense portion of those flights.