Aviation analytics firm Cirium, reveals that December was the busiest month in 2021 for flights globally, totalling 2.43 million, however, the total number of flights cancelled globally between December 24, 2021, and January 3, 2022, was 59,240, some 2.4%.
Cirium’s On-Time Performance Review 2021 reveals December as the busiest month in 2021 for flights flown globally – a total of 2.43 million
Over 59,240 flights have been canceled globally from December 24 to January 3 – the most flight cancelations in December for the past decade
20,500 of these flight cancelations happened over the first three days of the new year
The big four US airlines canceled a total of nearly 7,040 flights between December 24 and January 3
American Airlines flew the most flights in 2021 at around 1,850,050
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was the busiest global airport this year and ranked 15th in the Top 20 Global airports for on-time performance
The number of cancellations over this period is the most cancellations in December for the past decade, six times more than the cancellations in 2019 and two and half times more than 2020. A total of 20,500 flights were cancelled in the first three days of the new year.
The big four US airlines, including American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines, canceled nearly 7,040 flights over this period.
The cancelations are driven by the surging cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and other operational challenges (including winter weather). Airlines rapidly cancelled flights due to staff shortages across crew and ground operations.
Pre-Omicron, global flights flown increased 1.5% week-over-week (December 11-17, 2021). However, global flights are now down 5% compared to the week prior, following the impact of Omicron.
There are large variances between the regions, with the US, Europe and North Atlantic down 9-10%, China up 6%, while Asia-Pacific and Middle East are flat.
Click here to download the complimentary On-Time Performance Review 2021.