Coronavirus | Airlines, carmakers cautious on Omicron

Nov 29 Reuters - Companies were cautious on Monday about the impact of the new Omicron virus on their businesses, with airlines saying they were not yet cancelling flights and automakers saying they were looking at any potential impact on manufacturing.

The World Health Organization warned on Monday that the Omicron variant of coronaviruses has a very high global risk of surges. Spooked investors wiped out about $2 trillion off global stocks on Friday, but markets were calmer Monday.

The bans on travel from southern Africa have been imposed by countries, where the variant was first uncovered. Japan and Israel went further, announcing bans on all foreign arrivals. Some airlines said they were not changing their schedules.

Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary saw no reason to cancel flights, although he was worried about some countries potentially shutting down air travel. Lufthansa, Germany's flagship airline, said its flights were still well booked.

U.S. President Joe Biden planned to meet with CEOs of major retailers and other companies Monday to discuss how to move good to shelves as the U.S. holiday shopping season begins in the shadow of Omicron.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Monday it was too soon to tell whether Omicron will have an impact on global supply chains.

The prospect of a fast-spreading variant has raised fears of a return of the restrictions that shut down a swathe of industries in 2020.

Auto plants in the United States closed for two months last year, and even after automakers restarted operations they have curtailed production schedules due to semiconductor chip shortages and other supply-chain constraints. Automakers said it was too soon to predict the impact of Omicron.

This is new, Nissan Motor Co spokeswoman Lloryn love-Carter said. We have a lot of very strict COVID protocols in place, and we are monitoring that. Toyota Motor Corp said its management team will meet on Tuesday to talk about the Omicron variant and whether the Japanese automaker needs to take additional steps.

The Toyota U.S. spokesman Scott Vazin said that we're in 'gathering info' mode. Since most of our employees are based in plants, we have never stopped COVID protocols such as social distancing, health screenings, masking up. Volkswagen continues to follow strict safety protocols for employees at all its U.S. facilities.