United and Delta airlines have canceled hundreds of flights on Christmas Eve, blaming COVID-related staff shortages.

The website Flight Aware shows United canceling 136 flights on Christmas Eve.

Delta is canceling at least 92 so far.

The cancellations continue into Christmas Day. 

Nearly 100 flights have been canceled between the two airlines on Saturday. 

United Airlines said in a statement, “The nationwide spike in Omicron cases this week has had a direct impact on our flight crews and the people who run our operation. As a result, we’ve unfortunately had to cancel some flights and are notifying impacted customers in advance of them coming to the airport. We’re sorry for the disruption and are working hard to rebook as many people as possible and get them on their way for the holidays.”

Delta also released a statement, “Delta teams have exhausted all options and resources -- including rerouting and substitutions of aircraft and crews to cover scheduled flying -- before canceling around 90 flights for Friday. We apologize to our customers for the delay in their holiday travel plans. Delta people are working hard to get them to where they need to be as quickly and as safely as possible on the next available flight.”

Travelers are urged to check with their airlines to see the status of any future flights.