HONOLULU — Hawaiian Airlines canceled 41 flights over New Year’s weekend because of staffing shortages related to COVID-19. 

Hawaiian Airlines canceled 29 interisland and six transpacific flights on Saturday and another four interisland and two transpacific flights on Sunday, according to Hawaiian Airlines spokesperson Marissa Villegas. 

“All guests affected by cancellations were reaccommodated on other flights, and we thank them for their continued understanding and patience as we work through these challenges,” said Villegas to Spectrum News Hawaii. 

This comes after the airline canceled a total of 27 flights on Friday. The canceled flights on New Year’s Eve included 22 interisland flights and five transpacific flights. 

The staffing shortages were caused by the spread of the highly contagious omicron variant of COVID-19. On Thursday, 175 Hawaiian Airlines employees who tested positive and whose cases remain active were unable to come to work, as well as 262 employees who were self-isolating and monitoring symptoms after a possible exposure. 

Across the U.S., many airlines have had to postpone or cancel flights for the same reason. 

“We do not anticipate any cancellations due to staffing shortages today, and expect operations to normalize as we move outside the peak holiday travel period,” said Villegas on Monday.