A bug in a cybersecurity program that led to widespread IT shutdowns across various industries continues to hamstring operations at Delta Air Lines, which has canceled thousands of flights since Friday and delayed thousands more.
Other affected airlines have mostly recovered from the CrowdStrike outage that occurred on July 19, but more than 1,000 Delta flights per day are still being impacted. That led U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigeig to announce a federal investigation into the airline’s handling of the crisis.
“USDOT has opened an investigation into Delta Air Lines to ensure the airline is following the law and taking care of its passengers during continued widespread disruptions,” Buttigeig wrote in a series of posts on the social media site X on July 23. “All airline passengers have the right to be treated fairly, and I will make sure that right is upheld.
“While you should first try to resolve issues directly with the airline, we want to hear from passengers who believe that Delta has not complied with USDOT-enforced passenger protection requirements during the recent travel disruptions,” Buttegeig continued. “You shouldn’t be forced to sleep on the floor of an airport or stranded without access to customer service help.”
Delta CEO Says Airline Will Be Back to Normal Thursday
On July 24, Delta CEO Ed Bastien issued an apology to the airline’s customers in which he acknowledged that while the company’s “initial efforts to stabilize the operations were difficult and frustratingly slow and complex, we have made good progress this week and the worst impacts of the CrowdStrike-caused outage are clearly behind us.
“Delays and cancellations were down 50 percent Tuesday compared to Monday, and we anticipate cancellations Wednesday to be minimal,” wrote Bastien. “Thursday is expected to be a normal day, with the airline fully recovered and operating at a traditional level of reliability.”
Bastien said Delta remained “committed to taking care of those whose flights may still be impacted, with meals, hotel accommodations and ground transportation offered through vouchers and reimbursements. We’re also providing impacted customers with Delta SkyMiles and travel vouchers as a further gesture of apology.”
Delta has also extended the change waiver on canceled or delayed flights to July 26, meaning that customers can rebook flights at no extra charge, regardless of published fare differences.
