As Delta Air Lines grapples with additional cancellations from the widespread global technology outage, the carrier on Sunday announced how it will aid stranded passengers, some of whom were forced to sleep at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The airline canceled more than 3,500 Delta and Delta Connection flights through Saturday, and hundred more were canceled Sunday.
In a statement, Delta said it extended a travel waiver for all customers who booked travel from July 19-21, which gives them the ability to make a one-time change to their itinerary. The difference in costs would be waived if rebooked travel happens on or before July 26, “in the same cabin of service as originally booked,” the airline said.
Delta would also be issuing SkyMiles Program miles, or a travel voucher, with the amount based on how much the passenger was affected during that time.
The technology outage stemmed from security updates related to Microsoft 365 apps and services from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
In a letter to customers, Delta CEO Ed Bastian wrote that Delta has “a significant number of applications that use (the Microsoft operating) system, and in particular one of our crew tracking-related tools was affected and unable to effectively process the unprecedented number of changes triggered by the systems shutdown.”
The disruption also occurred on the busiest travel weekend of the summer, with planes more than 90% full, according to Bastian, making it more difficult to rebook passengers whose flights were canceled.
As of 1:30 p.m., Sunday, Delta canceled more than 680 flights worldwide due to the outage, which hobbled Microsoft, a company the airline relies upon heavily for its technology. Delta has had more cancellations than any other airline, according to numbers posted by FlightAware.com, a website that tracks airline cancellations and delays. United Air Lines has the second highest number of delays, according to the site.
“While customers can monitor and manage their itineraries on Delta.com or on the Fly Delta app, these online tools have been inundated with traffic, causing intermittent performance challenges. Delta teams are working to stabilize those tools,” the airline said. “Also note that our ability to respond to service messages on social media platforms such as X are limited.”
Other expenses that could be covered by Delta include meal vouchers and hotel accommodations. Customers feeling left in the dark can get update notifications about delays and cancellations in their itinerary on the Fly Delta app and text message, according to the airline. Re-booking options are also being offered that can be managed online.
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com
Passengers who have collected hotel, food or ground transportation expenses while traveling during the outage can also submit “eligible expenses” for reimbursement, Delta said. The airline noted it would not reimburse prepaid expenses that include, “but are not limited to,” hotel reservations at the destination, vacation experiences, lost wages, concerts or other tickets.
“Across the operation, Delta teams in airports, on board flights, on phones and in messaging channels were working tirelessly to care for customers as the airline worked to put flight crews and aircraft back in position following the disruption,” Delta added. “We’re sorry for this inconvenience – canceling a flight is always our last resort and isn’t taken lightly. Delta takes seriously the trust placed in us to deliver the reliability and experiences customers have come to know and expect from us.”
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