...
By Jesus Mesa
Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
The U.S. Department of Transportation has launched an investigation into Delta Airlines following persistent cancellations and delays exacerbated by a major CrowdStrike IT meltdown on Friday.
Five days after the IT outage that caused thousands of flight cancellations worldwide, Delta is still struggling to return to normal operations, making it the only one of the big three U.S. airlines still dealing with the fallout of a computer outage going on five days later. Delta cancelled another 457 flights on Tuesday, about 12% of its domestic schedule.
In a statement, the DOT cited widespread flight disruptions and customer service failures, accusing Delta of failing to uphold commitments to its passengers. The agency also said the investigation would evolve as the DOT processes a "high volume" of customer complaints.
Read More on News
More From Newsweek Vault: Delta SkyMiles Gold Amex Review
...
"Our department will leverage the full extent of our investigative and enforcement power to ensure the rights of Delta's passengers are upheld," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said.
More From Newsweek Vault: Compare the Best Rewards Credit Cards for Travel
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated that it is working closely with the airlines to help it resume normal operations. In a statement to Newsweek on Tuesday, Delta confirmed it is fully cooperating with both the DOT and FAA investigations.
Delta passengers have expressed frustration and anger over the ongoing disruptions. At Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Delta's hub, scenes of those frustrations played out as thousands of passengers found themselves stranded.
Despite efforts to manage the crisis, the recovery process has been slow. Long lines snaked through the terminal as travelers sought assistance at customer service counters, where overwhelmed staff struggled to provide answers and support.
By Tuesday, Delta had over 5,386 cancellations since the IT outage on Friday, making it the most affected airline in the United States, according to FlightAware. These cancellations accounted for nearly 30% of all Delta's cancellations for the entire year of 2023, according to DOT data.
In contrast, American Airlines and United Airlines had only about 80 combined cancellations in the past 24 hours, as they quickly recovered from the blackout over the weekend.
Domino Effect
In a public statement to customers on Sunday, Delta CEO Ed Bastian apologized for the disruptions and attributed the problem to its "crew tracking" software, which was unable to process the unprecedented number of changes triggered by the system outage.
...
Bastian explained that the outage occurred during the busiest travel weekend of the summer, with capacity on its flights already exceeding 90%. This severely limited the airline's ability to re-accommodate passengers.
Flights in the air were not impacted by the outage, which primarily affected airline IT systems on the ground. However, even a single system outage typically has a domino effect in aviation, a problem that is becoming increasingly common.
"Much of the IT work for airlines is outsourced, leading to a lack of control and quick recovery when issues arise," said William J. McGee, senior fellow for aviation and travel at the American Economic Liberties Project to Newsweek.
In a statement to Newsweek, a spokesperson for Delta confirmed that the original issue with their crew tracking software was related to the CrowdStrike update.
"Upward of half of Delta's IT systems worldwide are Windows-based. The CrowdStrike error required Delta's IT teams to manually repair and reboot each of the affected systems, with additional time then needed for applications to synchronize and start communicating with each other," the statement said.
The problems at Delta are similar to those Southwest Airlines faced over the end-of-year holiday travel period in 2022, when it had to cancel nearly 17,000 flights over more than a week due to a problem with its crew scheduling system.
"The integration between outsourced IT systems and internal airline systems is often inadequate, leading to operational breakdowns like Delta's recent issues, and others that have been frequent even with the most advanced technology available," McGee said.
'Poor Leadership'
McGee said these kinds of disruptions are downstream from a cost-cutting culture within the airline industry, where current airline systems outsource their IT infrastructure but operate at peak capacity almost all the time, making them extremely fragile.
"Passenger loads have increased from about 50% in the 80s and 90s to over 90% now, with virtually every seat taken during peak seasons. This high load factor means there's no slack in the system to accommodate passengers from canceled or delayed flights, exacerbating recovery issues."
...
McGee also said that Ed Bastian, the Delta CEO, should be held accountable for the prolonged meltdown and poor communication with passengers.
"The five-day struggle and lack of effective crisis management reflect poorly on the airline's leadership and planning," he said.
In a statement on Wednesday, Bastian provided an update on Delta's operations, noting that after five days of mayhem, the airline was finally returning to normal.
"Delays and cancellations were down 50% on Tuesday compared to Monday. We expect minimal cancellations on Wednesday, and Thursday should be a normal day, with the airline fully recovered and operating at its usual level of reliability," Bastian said.
Delta announced an extension of their travel waiver for all customers with flights booked from July 19-23 due to the recent cancellations and delays. The DOT also asked Delta passengers to share their travel stories with the federal agency.
"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," Sec. Buttigieg said.
"We will follow up," he added.
Update 7/24/24 11:00 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with new comment from Delta's CEO.
Do you have a story we should be covering? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact  LiveNews@newsweek.com.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines