Delta Airlines continued to face challenges on Monday as it grappled with the repercussions of the CrowdStrike global IT outage. The airline had to cancel over 750 mainline flights, accounting for a staggering 19% of its schedule for the day. This ongoing issue has been a major headache for Delta, with the regional subsidiary Endeavor Air also experiencing cancellations amounting to 9% of its network.
The ripple effect of the IT outage was felt across the airline industry, with Delta leading the pack in terms of flight cancellations. Data from OAG showed that Delta, including its regional network, had to cancel a total of 4,675 flights from Friday to Sunday. This far exceeded the number of cancellations by any other airline, with United coming in second with 1,706 cancellations during the same period.
The outage had a significant impact on Delta’s operational capabilities, particularly with crew-tracking tools being affected. This led to difficulties in processing the numerous schedule changes required to address the disruption. CEO Ed Bastian acknowledged the challenges faced by customers, especially given that the outage occurred during one of Delta’s busiest travel weekends of the summer.
In a public statement, Bastian expressed his apologies to customers who were affected by the disruptions. He emphasized Delta’s commitment to connecting the world and acknowledged the frustration caused by travel disruptions. The airline extended its travel waiver through Tuesday, offering rebooking options with waived fare differences and providing travel vouchers and SkyMiles points to impacted customers.
As Delta works towards restoring normalcy to its operations, questions remain about when the airline’s network is expected to return to normal. With the travel waiver extension, the airline is striving to accommodate affected passengers and minimize the inconvenience caused by the IT outage. It is crucial for Delta to address the underlying issues that led to this disruption and implement measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Overall, the aftermath of Delta’s IT outage serves as a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities faced by airlines in an increasingly digitized world. The impact of such disruptions goes beyond just flight cancellations, affecting the travel plans and experiences of thousands of passengers. As Delta grapples with the fallout from this incident, the focus now shifts to the airline’s response efforts and its ability to bounce back from this setback.