US airports saw mass flight cancellations for a third consecutive day on Sunday, lingering after a technical outage on Friday. Affects Microsoft Windows clients It caused IT infrastructure outages around the world. It upended the operations of many airlines.Delta’s CEO even issued an apology on Sunday afternoon.
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines canceled hundreds of flights on Sunday as they continue to work to restore operations following issues caused by a third-party vendor over the weekend.
The issue has led to crowded terminals at airports across the country this weekend, with long, snaking lines of travelers frequently seen trying to speak to customer service representatives and footage of passengers sleeping on the floors of airport concourses.
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By Sunday afternoon, airlines had canceled more than 1,200 flights in the United States.
Delta Air Lines led the way with more than 700 canceled flights on Sunday, accounting for about a fifth of its operations, according to data from flight-tracking site FlightAware. United Airlines was second with 259 canceled flights on Sunday, accounting for about 8% of its schedule.
Airlines have canceled a total of more than 6,700 flights in the U.S. since Friday’s disruptions, including about 3,200 of them Delta flights, according to FlightAware data.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian apologized for the extended disruption in a letter to customers on Sunday afternoon.
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“Delta is in the business of connecting the world and we understand how challenging it is for our customers when their travels are interrupted,” Bastian said. “We appreciate your patience while we resolve these issues, restore service and return to the reliability you have come to expect from Delta.”
Delta Airlines
The Atlanta-based airline said Sunday it was still working to get operations back on track after an IT outage at Austin-based CrowdStrike caused it and several other U.S. airlines to temporarily suspend operations on Friday.
The problem affected the Microsoft Windows operating system that runs many of Delta’s applications, Bastian said, adding that the problem also affected a key crew tracking tool, leaving Delta unable to “effectively handle the unprecedented number of changes” caused by the shutdown.
Bastian said the problems were compounded by the disruptions occurring during what was expected to be Delta’s busiest weekend of the summer.
Thursday was the third-busiest day ever at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints nationwide.
Unaccompanied minor flights suspended
Delta Air Lines extended its suspension of unaccompanied minors flying through Tuesday (July 23) and extended a travel exemption that gives passengers more flexibility to change their itineraries, steps taken by other affected airlines including United Airlines.
Delta’s response
Delta said Sunday it would provide affected passengers with meal vouchers, hotel accommodations and transportation as needed, and “as a token of our apology,” Bastian said the airline would offer passengers travel vouchers and Delta SkyMiles.
DOT Refund Policy
Remember, under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Transportation, policy, Travelers whose flights are canceled or significantly delayed are entitled to a refund in their original form of payment for the unused portion of their ticket if they ultimately cancel their flight and are not willing to rebook.
Technical challenges continue
Delta said customers can monitor and manage itinerary changes on its website and mobile apps, but the airline noted these tools are “consumed with traffic and causing intermittent performance issues.”
The airline said it was working to stabilize those tools and warned that it also had limited ability to respond to social media messages.
United Airlines
In its latest update on Saturday, United Airlines told TPG that its customer service call system has been fully restored and most of its technology systems are up and running again, but warned that further cancellations and delays may occur over the weekend.
According to FlightAware data, U.S. flight cancellations on Saturday were down 37% from Friday but still amounted to more than 1,600 flights per day, led by Delta Air Lines with 1,200.
Major hubs for Delta and United Airlines were among the hardest-hit airports in the US this weekend, ranging from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), Denver International Airport (DEN) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR).
What will airlines charge you in the event of a cancellation or delay?
Although the issues stemmed from third-party vendors, and not from the airlines directly, the Department of Transportation considers the cancellations and delays to be “controllable,” in other words, the airlines’ responsibility, a Department of Transportation spokesperson told TPG on Friday.
This means that the airline’s promises, as stated on the airline’s customer service dashboard, will apply. Here’s what each airline told the DOT they would guarantee: In the event of cancellation or significant delay.
Other important resources:
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took to social media on Saturday to draw attention to the department’s refund policy.
“I’ve heard reports that some airlines are only offering flight credits,” Buttigieg wrote on Twitter. “I want to be clear: if your flight is canceled and you don’t rebook, you are entitled to an immediate refund.”
Outliers in 2024
The disruption to flights over the past 48 hours comes during a year that has seen few major disruptions to air travel.
According to FlightAware, between Jan. 1 and July 18, U.S. airlines canceled 1.3% of flights. Compare that to a cancellation rate of 2.6% for the same period in 2022.
Delta Air Lines specifically touted the reliability of the airline’s operations. Second Quarter Financial Results Announcement July 11. The company recently JD Power Airline Rankings and TPG’s Best Airlines for 2024 Report Part of the reason is operational reliability.
Recent major operational issues in the industry include days of disruption at United Airlines last summer, which forced airlines to Strengthening cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration About the Newark operation… and January 2023: FAA computer outage It was the first nationwide grounding since September 11, 2001. The latter incident led to Southwest Airlines’ 2022 Holiday operational disaster.
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