Nearly 4,400 flights around the world were cancelled on Saturday, more than 2,500 of them in the US, air traffic site FlightAware reported.
Airlines have been struggling with staffing problems with crew quarantining after contracting Covid.
Adding to travellers' woes, heavy snow has hit the central US.
From the US cancellations, more than 1,000 are from Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports.
"Today's cancellations are driven by Omicron staffing and weather-related issues. We did pre-cancel flights in anticipation of inclement weather. We've been contacting passengers early if their flights are cancelled to give them time to rebook or make other plans," United Airlines said in a statement.
Sunday, when many people often return home from their Christmas holidays, is likely to bring further disruption, with more snow and heavy winds forecast.
"It's too long and there's no space to spend the time, get something to eat, it's a long time here," one traveller stuck at O'Hara airport told ABC news in Chicago.
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Since 24 December, more than 12,000 flights have been cancelled in the US.
Airlines have been trying to woo crew with extra pay to tackle the staff shortages. But unions say workers fear contracting Covid or having to deal with angry passengers.
The US is facing a surge in Covid cases powered by the Omicron variant.
New York City has seen record cases despite high vaccination rates. The virus has hit everything from the police force to Broadway shows, although there has not yet been a significant hike in hospitalisations.
The city's new mayor, Eric Adams, took office on Saturday after low key New Year celebrations.
In his first speech, he said the city would not be "controlled by crises".
"This pandemic has not only impacted us physically, but emotionally, and I'm going to really encourage people in this city to just find that inner peace, no matter what we're going through," he said.
"We have been through tragedies before. This is a resilient city and a resilient country and I want to bring that energy,"
Airlines canceled more than 2,600 U.S. flights on New Year’s Day as they faced severe weather across the country and a surge in omicron infections among staff that has disrupted air travel throughout the year-end holidays.
The issues won’t be resolved anytime soon. By Saturday afternoon, the airlines had already canceled more than 1,000 U.S. flights scheduled for Sunday. Since Christmas Eve, more than 13,700 U.S. flights have been scrapped and thousands more were delayed, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.
The travel woes come during what airlines expected to be among the busiest days since the pandemic began. Last year, the Transportation Security Administration screened nearly 580 million people, up 79% from 2020 but still off about 30% from 2019 before the pandemic.
Southwest Airlines had largely escaped some of the severe disruptions that affected rivals over the holidays, but scrubbed 473 flights on Saturday, 13% of its schedule, according to FlightAware. More than 600 others were delayed. The airline suspended operations at Chicago’s airports as of 1 p.m. local time ahead of a severe winter storm.
Southwest has more than 200 daily departures from Chicago Midway International Airport. An airline spokeswoman said that the flights were cut because planners were “anticipating the gusty winds and blowing snow that decades of our history operating in this airport show us will slow down the airspace and also make deicing and getting aircraft back into the air very challenging.” The spokeswoman Southwest didn’t have staffing issues.
The Federal Aviation Administration also slowed traffic at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, American Airlines’ largest hub, due to staffing. Earlier this week, the agency warned disruptions would continue.
“Weather and heavy seasonal traffic are likely to result in some travel delays in the coming days,” the agency said in a statement Friday. “Like the rest of the U.S. population, an increased number of FAA employees have tested positive for COVID-19. To maintain safety, traffic volume at some facilities could be reduced, which might result in delays during busy periods.”
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