US Markets
Monday, July 22nd, 2024 2:24 pm EDT
Key Points
- Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian apologized and offered frequent flyer miles to customers for flight cancellations caused by a significant IT outage, resulting in over 4,600 flights canceled from Friday to Sunday, with an additional 550 flights canceled by early Monday.
- Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg criticized Delta for unacceptable disruptions and customer service conditions, emphasizing the need for prompt refunds, reimbursements for food and hotel stays, and adequate customer service for affected passengers.
- The IT outage, linked to a botched software update from cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike, impacted Delta’s Microsoft tools, particularly crew tracking-related tools, causing prolonged disruptions and placing Delta in a rare negative spotlight for reliability and punctuality issues.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian issued an apology and offered frequent flyer miles to customers affected by the massive flight cancellations caused by an IT outage on Friday. This outage resulted in over 4,600 canceled flights from Friday through Sunday, with another 550 flights canceled by early Monday, affecting 15% of Delta’s mainline operations. The disruptions, which drew criticism from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, placed Delta in an unusual negative spotlight, as the airline is typically known for its reliability and punctuality.
Buttigieg expressed dissatisfaction with the service disruptions, noting the significant number of complaints received by the Department of Transportation. He emphasized the expectation that Delta should provide prompt refunds for canceled trips, timely reimbursements for food and hotel stays, and adequate customer service for all affected passengers.
While other airlines, such as American Airlines, had largely recovered from the disruptions by Saturday, Delta continued to struggle. In response, Bastian apologized to customers, acknowledging the difficulty of travel disruptions and reaffirming Delta’s commitment to connecting people worldwide. The airline attempted to mitigate the situation by offering extra pay to flight attendants to pick up additional shifts and calling staff on their personal phones to come in. However, the high demand during one of the busiest travel periods of summer made it challenging to find alternative flights for impacted travelers.
The outage also affected Delta’s Microsoft tools, particularly a crucial crew tracking-related tool, which hindered the airline’s ability to process the numerous changes necessitated by the system shutdown. This incident bore similarities to the issues faced by Southwest Airlines at the end of 2022, when it struggled to recover from severe winter weather due to a similar failure in its system.
Additionally, the IT outage was linked to a botched software update from cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike, which paralyzed some Windows-based programs. This issue also impacted the banking and healthcare industries. Despite the widespread disruption, Delta’s situation was particularly severe, highlighting the airline’s dependence on robust IT systems for maintaining its operational reliability.
For the full original article on CNBC, please click here: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/21/delta-offers-crews-double-pay-to-staff-flights-after-it-outage.html
