The IT outage that affected around 8.5 million Windows devices around the world on Friday seems to have affected Delta Air Lines more than any other business. While services from aviation and trains to banks and hospitals to TV and radio stations were affected, most of them started a prompt recovery as soon as systems went back online.
While a delay in returning to regular schedules is expected amid airlines that need to go through the backlog of cancelled and delayed flights and reschedule passengers, Delta has cancelled over 6,000 flights since Friday, more than any other airline.
To understand the scale of the issue, on Sunday, 1,600 flights were cancelled by all US airlines, 1,000 of which being just from Delta. On Monday, the carrier scrapped over 1,250 flights and on Tuesday the toll was at 466 at 2pm ET. “No other US airline had cancelled one tenth as many flights”, according to CNN.
“Delays and cancellations were down 50% Tuesday compared to Monday, and we anticipate cancellations Wednesday to be minimal. Thursday is expected to be a normal day, with the airline fully recovered and operating at a traditional level of reliability”, the carrier’s CEO, Ed Bastian, said in a statement earlier today.
Meanwhile, United only cancelled 400 flights on Saturday and 200 on Sunday, while in Europe, the biggest numbers came from easyJet, which cancelled 68 flights in and out of London Gatwick airport on Sunday, but a mere 3 on Monday. Other airlines in and out of the UK have had single digit cancellation figures, according to the Independent, with no serious numbers reported elsewhere on the continent.
In this context, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) has launched an investigation into why the carrier is suffering more than other airlines, but, more important than the sheer number of disruptions, passengers have reported unhelpful customer support and a refusal to be refunded and reimbursed additional expenses incurred due to their changed flights.
While the technology outage was clearly not caused by Delta or any airline, I am nevertheless concerned that Delta is failing to meet the moment and adequately protect the needs of passengers.
Maria Cantwell, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee
“I’m hearing a lot of things I’m very concerned about, including people being on hold for hours and hours trying to get a new flight. people having to sleep on airport floors, even accounts of unaccompanied minors being stranded in airports unable to get on a flight”, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Tuesday.
The Reauthorization Bill, signed earlier this year, obliges airlines to not only refund passengers when their flights are cancelled or seriously delayed, but to also reimburse them for costs such as accommodation and meals. According to the “high volume of consumer complaints” received by the DOT, Delta has not been doing that.
“They haven’t paid for my hotels, and they haven’t paid for my food, or my Ubers, or my anything”, said one passenger, adding that she was on hold with the airline’s customer service for three and a half hours with no answer.
Some passengers have received emails promising them 12,500 SkyMiles, the equivalent of about $140, withing 5 business days as a compensation for their troubles. The email seems to offer the miles instead of a refund, which is now illegal and, moreover, insufficient for example for people who had tickets in business or first class.
Additionally, passengers have been inquiring if reimbursement claims will be accepted for flights booked with different airlines that have been faster to recover from the outage.