Travelers wait in line at a Delta Air Lines counter at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on July 19, 2024. Companies have experienced disruptions on an unprecedented scale.
Shen Ting/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Delta Airlines Chief Executive Ed Bastian apologized and offered thousands of flights to passengers as the airline struggled to recover from a worldwide IT outage on Friday. frequent flyer miles, a disruption that prompted criticism from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
The Atlanta-based airline canceled more than 4,600 flights from Friday to Sunday, more than any other airline, according to aviation data firm OAG.
On Monday morning, Delta Air Lines had canceled another 700 flights, accounting for 19% of its mainline flights and more than half of its U.S. cancellations, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
The delays and cancellations have given Delta a rare spotlight on an airline whose leaders pride themselves on reliability and punctuality.
“We continue to receive reports of unacceptable disruptions and customer service conditions at Delta Air Lines, including hundreds of complaints to our department,” Buttigieg said in an emailed statement Sunday night. “I “We have made it clear to Delta that we expect the airline to promptly provide refunds to passengers who choose to cancel their trips due to flight disruptions” and “promptly reimburse consumers affected by delays and cancellations for food and overnight hotel accommodations,” As well as providing adequate customer service assistance to all passengers. “
Delta’s service disruptions persist while most other airlines have resumed. American airlines By Saturday it was basically back to normal. United Airlines Flight disruptions increased at Delta Air Lines on Sunday, with 9%, or 260 flights, of its schedule canceled, according to FlightAware data, but that was still less than Delta Air Lines.
“I would like to apologize to everyone affected by these events,” Bastian said in a letter to customers. “Delta is committed to connecting the world, and we understand it can be frustrating when your travel is disrupted. How difficult.”
An employee memo on Sunday said the airline is offering extra pay to flight attendants to cover shifts. The operator called some of them on their private phones to come in, A person familiar with the matter spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Bastian said in the report that high demand during the busiest period of the summer has forced airlines to find alternative flights for affected passengers.
As of Sunday, research firm Raymond James projected Delta’s financial losses to exceed $160 million.
Delta Air Lines has several Microsoft “In particular, one of our crew tracking related tools was affected and was unable to effectively handle the unprecedented volume changes caused by the system shutdown,” Bastian said in the report.
This will make the event similar to a question Southwest Airlines The country suffered more severe losses in late 2022, failing to recover from severe winter weather for several days.
Cybersecurity company’s software update fails mass strike Incidents that brought down some Windows-based programs also affected the banking and healthcare industries.
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