It has been a weekend to forget for Delta Air Lines as the airline’s operation has suffered a complete meltdown due to IT issues stemming from a faulty Crowdstrike update. The issues first appeared Friday morning and crippled the operations of airlines and hotels. While most airlines have been able to recover, Delta has an operational catastrophe on its hands.
Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian, issued a statement on Sunday addressing the airline’s issues stating “Delta was impacted on Friday morning by an outside vendor technology issue, which prompted us to pause flying while our systems were offline. The pause in our operation resulted in more than 3,500 Delta and Delta Connection flights cancelled through Saturday. Cancellations continue on Sunday as Delta’s teams work to recover our systems and restore our operation. Canceling a flight is always a last resort, and something we don’t take lightly.”
While Bastain’s statement paints a somewhat optimistic picture, the truth of the matter is that the operation is in shambles. According to xJonNYC on Twitter/X, some Delta pilots are stating that this meltdown is worse operationally than what they experienced on September 11th.
DL:
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) July 21, 2024
Some senior pilots are saying this meltdown is worse than 9/11. Pilots still can't get a hold of anyone at the company. “Someone needs to be held accountable for this mess.”
Mrs. ATX’s parents are currently trying to fly from Detroit (DTW) to Dallas/Ft. Worth (DFW) on Delta and are experiencing these issues firsthand. Their plane has been on the ground in Detroit for five hours, yet they are 4+ hours delayed as Delta can’t find a crew to operate the flight.
According to FlightAware, Delta currently has cancelled 23% of its total flights with 44%of its flights delayed. Regional affiliate Endeavor Air is in the same territory with 23% cancelled and 29% delayed. Unsurprisingly, the top 4 airports for delays (ATL, MSP, LGA, and DTW) are all Delta hubs.
These issues show no sign of subsiding and Delta’s current situation is rivaling Southwest’s winter meltdown from 2023 which cost the airline $140 million.
Summary
Delta is experiencing its worst issues in decades as an operational meltdown due to an IT outage is crippling the network. The Atlanta based carrier is having difficulties determining where its crews and aircraft are and these issues will likely cascade into the work week. If you’re flying Delta today we’d love to hear your experience.
My flight to Hawaii was cancelled and have to wait until Tuesday to get a flight. Flying America on Tuesday, hopefully never have to deal with Delta again.
I’ve been stuck in Providence for two days with long delays and 2 canceled flights. No one seems to know what is going on. No flight crews, and a lot of ”I’ve called operations’ excuses. And I received a whopping 48$ for my family of 4 to eat one meal.
Delta needs to do better for the rates they asking for their flights.
Mrs. ATX’s parents are still stuck in DTW despite the fact that the plane has been on the ground for more than 10 hours. No crews available to operate it it seems. Fingers crossed you and the family get out soon.
Delta PR game gone pear shaped lol . They never invested enough money in tech . American actually splash money and recruited amazing people to rol Google and apple to redesign their IT . Have to say from crowd strike day till now I traveled 3 times on American including one international trip . Every flight was on time as d international flights landed 25 mints earlier. Delta is crap and their survival is always on their PR not based on their actual performance. American you have earned lots of loyal members in last 3 days . Brilliant job AA .
Delta has adopted GREED as it’s mantra instead of quality and dependable travel experiences. Everything is about how many more seats you can squeeze in….for the shareholders and profits. This is karma for Delta but as soon as the crowdstrike issue and it’s domino affect are resolved, GREED will once again be their beacon. Way to go Delta!!