US cancels nearly 2,000 flights in 24 hours

Around 2,000 flights have been cancelled in the United States as of Sunday morning (local time), amid the spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.

Citing FlightAware, The Hill reported that a total of 1,956 flights within, into or out of the US were cancelled as of 8:30 am ET today.

While another 870 flights within, into or out of the US had been delayed, it added.

According to The Hill, Southwest recorded 264 cancellations today, JetBlue reported 169 cancelled flights, and Delta followed with 161 cancellations.

Americans Airlines cancelled 136 flights today, and United called off 94 trips, as per the media outlet.

The US has seen a large number of flight cancellations within recent days, driven largely by the nationwide spike in COVID-19 cases.

During the past 10 days, including Sunday and Christmas Eve, airlines have cancelled more than 14,000 flights in the US, according to a CNN tally of FlightAware statistics.

The Hill reported that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned on Thursday that more travel delays are likely in the coming days because of COVID-19 infections among FAA employees and "weather and heavy seasonal traffic."