Omicron Variant Surfaces Amid an Airline Travel Rebound

Air traffic has been recovering steadily for months, and Sunday has been the busiest day of travel at US airports since February 2020. But the discovery of the Omicron coronavirus variant threatens to jeopardize the recovery of the industry, as did the Delta variant this summer .

Several nations, including the United States, have banned visitors from South Africa and a handful of neighboring countries. Japan, Morocco and Israel have banned all incoming foreign visitors, while the Philippines have banned visitors from southern Africa and several European countries.

The tightening of restrictions has drawn criticism from the travel industry. In a statement last week, Willie Walsh, head of the International Air Transport Association, a global trade association, called for “safe alternatives to border closings and quarantine”. At the weekend, the US travel association asked the Biden administration to reconsider their ban.

“Covid variants are worrying, but closed borders have not prevented their presence in the United States, while vaccinations have been shown to be incredibly long-lasting,” Tori Emerson Barnes, executive vice president of public affairs and policy, said in a statement. “With vaccination and testing required to travel to the United States, we continue to believe that assessing a person’s risk and health is the best way to welcome qualified travelers from around the world to the United States.”

International travel recovery has been slower for US airlines than for travel within the United States. However, President Biden’s decision earlier this month to relax long-standing restrictions on foreign travelers promised to fuel that recovery. It’s not yet clear whether or how the Omicron variant will affect travel demand, but as travel bans increase and concerns about the variant spread, hopes for an accelerated international recovery could again be dashed.

Only two US airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, fly out of southern Africa. Both said they have no plans yet to adjust their schedules in response to the government’s ban that went into effect Monday that does not apply to American citizens or legal permanent residents. Delta operates three weekly flights between Atlanta and Johannesburg. United operates five weekly flights between Newark and Johannesburg and has not changed its plans to resume flights between Newark and Cape Town on Wednesday.

No major American airline has announced any major procedural changes because of the variant. And all passengers flying to the United States must have a negative coronavirus test, including non-citizens who must be fully vaccinated.

In the United States, air travel has almost recovered, although many companies are still cautious about sending employees on work trips. The number of people screened at airport security checkpoints last week only decreased 12 percent from the same week in 2019, according to the Transportation Security Administration.

The industry has easily handled the rush of travelers during the vacation week and avoided the day-long interruptions with some airlines in recent months. In the seven days leading up to Sunday, there were fewer than 600 cancellations, according to FlightAware, a provider of aviation data, which is less than 0.5 percent of all scheduled domestic flights.