Airlines canceled over 8,000 flights across new year's weekend amid wintry weather conditions and rising COVID-19 cases among crew members

• 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 flight cancellations bled into the new year as thousands more were slashed over the holiday weekend.

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, SkyWest, American Airlines, and Delta were among the airlines involved in the mass cancellations over the new year's weekend, with Southwest suspending operations at both Chicago airports due to the severe weather forecast, AP reported. The airline also canceled more than 470 flights Saturday nationwide, according to FlightAware.

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 travel industry over the holiday season. Insider's Cheryl Teh and Jeremy Berke reported that airlines canceled at least 4,200 flights across Christmas Eve and Christmas Day due to a spike in Omicron COVID-19 infections. And about 13,000 flights were scrubbed in the last week of 2021, per Insider's Grace Dean.