Delta issued an update this afternoon on the airline’s systemwide meltdown that has now entered its fourth day. The airline calls out Crowdstrike, the IT vendor who’s faulty update brought airline and hotel systems to a standstill Friday morning. While airlines largely recovered by Saturday, with hotels seeing some lingering effects, Delta’s operation is still in shambles as of Monday afternoon.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian, speaking to employees via video message, stated:
“We’ve got everyone around the company working around the clock to get this operation where it needs to be. Keep taking great care of our customers and each other in the coming days.”
Ed Bastian, Delta CEO
Delta notes in the release that more than half of the company’s worldwide IT systems are Windows based. These systems were taken offline by the Crowdstrike issues and had to be manually repaired and rebooted.
The issue for Delta, which other airlines didn’t seem to have a problem with, is related to scheduling. The Atlanta based carrier doesn’t seem to know where its crews are and who is eligible to fly based on duty time. This crew scheduling software is critical to running such a complex operation. One Delta captain stated over the weekend that this was operationally worse than what the airline experienced in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks.
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.”
Delta does appear to be making some progress today as flight cancellations are slowing as the day goes on.
Monday Delta mainline flight cancellations by time:
— Ben Bearup (@TheAviationBeat) July 22, 2024
10:00am: 683
11:00am: 709
11:30am: 723
12:00pm: 742
12:30pm: 750
1:00pm: 766
1:30pm: 778
2:00pm: 789
2:30pm: 799
3:00pm: 812
I continue to see signs that Delta is making some progress in recovering their network. Flight…
Delta Meltdown Travel Updates
As the airline works to get its operation back on track, it has announced the following steps for its customers:
- Travel waivers have been extended for travel between July 19-23rd. The fare difference for customers will be waived when rebooked travel occurs on or before July 28, in the same cabin of service as originally booked.
- Customers have the right to receive a refund upon request for travel that has been interrupted due to a cancelled or significantly delayed flight.
- Issuance of SkyMiles or a travel voucher in the amount of the affected travel.
- Reimbursement of eligible expenses due to the disruption including hotel, meal, and/or ground transportation expenses while in transit.
The airline notes that it has also been reaching out to affected travelers with rebooking options.
Based on the guidance issued above, Delta seems to think the issues will stretch at least into Tuesday as it is covered under the updated travel waiver.
Navigating the Chaos
While I’m not traveling on Delta this week, I am getting to see the chaotic nature of the operation. Mrs. ATX’s parents are currently trying to fly back to Texas from Detroit. Their Delta flight was originally scheduled for Saturday but it was cancelled and they were rebooked for Sunday night.
Last night they made the trip to Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW) and tried once again to fly home. The airline said that the flight would operate though after rolling delays it was finally cancelled around midnight. With no rental cars available at the airport and no hotels within a 10 mile radius, they joined the long line of affected travelers at the Delta customer service desk.
Hopefully by then the operation is back up and running, even though some issues will persist throughout the week as people and planes work to get into position.
Summary
Delta provided an update to affected travelers as the airline continues to reel from an operational meltdown that began Friday morning. The airline’s statement didn’t provide much information around the current state of the issue but, based on the travel waiver, expect to see them continue into tomorrow.
Currently, over 60% of Delta’s flights today have been cancelled or delayed. This number appears to be holding steady instead of increasing as the day goes on, giving us a glimmer of hope that smoother skies are ahead. Hopefully the airline makes the reimbursement process easy as the “On Time Machine” (as it is known in some frequent flyer circles), has done a ton of damage to its brand image over the last few days.
I went through ATL yesterday and today. Waiting time for baggage services ran virtually the length of the building, with passengers waiting for as many as four hours to talk with an agent. Carousels weren’t big enough to handle the volume of luggage, and bags were packed into the floor so densely there were sections it was impossible navigate. Even at 5:45 am this morning, the customer service lines were extraordinary. Remarkably, the front-line DL workers I encountered were calm, caring, and doing their best to be helpful. I thought they were heroic. For that matter, most of the passengers were calm and understanding too.
This is an excellent reminder for frustrated travelers everywhere. The frontline employees are doing everything they can with the resources they have. They didn’t cause the outage and are working around the clock to get passengers accommodated. Good on the passengers for also staying calm under a stressful situation.