It’s another tough day for air travel, with more than 1,000 U.S. cancellations.

Alaska Airlines, whose primary hub is Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, canceled 14 percent of its flights. Relentless snowfall and record low temperatures in the Pacific Northwest grounded planes last week, and it snowed again in Seattle on Thursday.

Looking to relieve its staffing squeeze, the airline industry pushed for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to shorten its recommended isolation period for Americans infected with Covid-19. The agency had previously recommended that infected patients isolate for 10 days after a positive test. But on Monday, it reduced that period to five days for those without symptoms and those without fevers whose other symptoms were resolving.

Delta Air Lines was one of the first companies to adapt to the updated guidance. Its new policy, dated Tuesday, provides five days of paid leave for vaccinated workers who test positive for the coronavirus to isolate, according to an internal communication to company leaders obtained by The New York Times.

The policy encourages, but does not require, a Covid test to go back to work — going a step further than the C.D.C. guidance, which does not include a recommendation for additional testing — and Delta is offering two additional days of paid time off for workers who test positive on Day 5. But the airline’s protocols make no mention of whether returning employees should have improving symptoms, as suggested by the C.D.C.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/30/business/air-travel-cancellations.html