Delta Air Lines aircraft at Terminal 4 of John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York
The impact of the CrowdStrike technology outage continued on Monday, with the number of flight delays within, into, and out of the United States rising to 11,055, and another 1,662 flights canceled.
Most airlines have resumed normal operations, with the exception of Delta Air Lines.
As of 11:59 p.m. Monday, the Atlanta-based airline had canceled 1,079 flights, or 28% of its scheduled flights, and delayed another 1,741 flights, according to FlightAware, a service that tracks such information.
While American, the world’s largest airline, had roughly the same number of delays and United had nearly 1,000, neither airline canceled more than a few dozen flights.
Meanwhile, Delta isn’t making any friends in Washington, D.C.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg criticized the airline in a social media post on Sunday for its “continued service disruptions and undermining customer service.”
“We have received reports of ongoing disruptions and unacceptable customer service conditions at Delta, including hundreds of complaints filed with @USDOT. I have made it clear to Delta that we will hold them to all applicable passenger protections,” Buttigieg wrote.
Buttigieg reiterated that under current federal regulations, Delta is obligated to provide immediate cash refunds if passengers request them.
“Delta must promptly refund customers who choose not to rebook, provide free rebooking services to customers who do, promptly reimburse customers affected by delays and cancellations for meals and hotel accommodations, and provide adequate customer service assistance,” he said.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said in a letter to passengers released Sunday that the airline suspended flights after the outage on Friday, which resulted in about 3,500 flight cancellations from Friday to Saturday and into Sunday. Bastian said the outage occurred during what the airline considers to be its “busiest travel weekend of the summer.”
(Photo: Accura Media Group)
