Delta Air Lines is facing challenges as it works to recover from a global technology outage that has persisted for four consecutive days. The disruption was triggered by a faulty software update, leading to significant disruptions for tens of thousands of passengers. While other airlines are gradually returning to normal operations, Delta continues to grapple with a higher number of cancellations, drawing scrutiny from the federal government.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg engaged with Delta's CEO regarding the substantial number of flight cancellations and customer complaints. The Department of Transportation expects Delta to provide accommodation such as hotels and meals for affected travelers, issue prompt refunds, and adhere to air-travel consumer-protection regulations.
Since the onset of the outage, Delta has canceled over 5,500 flights, with an additional 700 flights canceled on Monday alone. This accounts for a significant portion of global flight cancellations, particularly in the United States. United Airlines also experienced disruptions, canceling nearly 1,500 flights initially but showing signs of improvement with only 17 cancellations reported on Monday.
Several other airlines impacted by the outage, including American Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Frontier Airlines, and Allegiant Air, have largely resumed normal operations by Monday. Delta's CEO acknowledged the ongoing efforts to restore disrupted operations, citing challenges with crew-tracking tools that were affected by the outage.
The technology issue coincided with a peak travel weekend, limiting Delta's re-accommodation capabilities due to high booking loads. The outage affected various critical systems used for passenger check-ins, crew scheduling, and flight preparations, leading to intermittent communication issues with crews in the air for United and American Airlines.
Notably, airlines like Southwest and Alaska, which do not utilize the cybersecurity software provider CrowdStrike responsible for the faulty update, experienced minimal disruptions. Experts suggest that Delta's reliance on Microsoft Windows systems may have contributed to the extent of the impact compared to other carriers.
Delta has implemented waivers to facilitate trip rescheduling for affected customers. The incident draws parallels to a similar disruption faced by Southwest Airlines in December 2022, resulting in a substantial number of flight cancellations and subsequent regulatory scrutiny.
The widespread tech problems stemming from the faulty software update have impacted millions of machines globally. While CrowdStrike has deployed a fix, the process of repairing all affected systems is expected to take days or even weeks, underscoring the vulnerability of industries reliant on external IT systems.
