Massive flight cancellations paralyzed US airports for a third straight day on Sunday, the lingering fallout from Friday’s technology outage. Affects Microsoft Windows clients causing IT infrastructure outages worldwide—and disrupt many airline operationseven prompted the CEO of Delta Air Lines to apologize on Sunday afternoon.
Delta and United Airlines again canceled hundreds of flights on Sunday, as the two carriers continue to work to restore operations following issues caused by a third-party supplier late last week.
The issues have left terminals at airports across the country crowded this weekend, with long lines of passengers waiting to speak with customer service — and images of passengers sleeping on airport lounge floors.
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By Sunday evening, airlines had canceled more than 1,700 flights in the United States.
Delta led the way with more than 1,000 flights canceled on Sunday — more than a quarter of its operations, according to data from flight tracking website FlightAware. United was second, with 262 flights canceled on Sunday — about 9% of its schedule.
In total, airlines have canceled more than 7,000 flights in the United States since Friday’s disruptions — more than 3,400 of them Delta flights, according to FlightAware data.
In a note to customers Sunday afternoon, Delta CEO Ed Bastian apologized for the extended disruption.
“Delta is in the business of connecting the world, and we understand how difficult it can be when your travel is disrupted,” Bastian said. “Thank you for your patience as we work through these issues, restore operations, and return to the reliability you expect from Delta.”
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Delta canceled at least 155 flights scheduled for Monday.
Delta Airlines
The Atlanta-based airline said Sunday that it is still in the process of restoring operations after a power outage at Austin-based Crowdstrike forced it — and several other U.S. airlines — to suspend flights on Friday.
Bastian said the issues affected the Microsoft Windows operating system that powers many of Delta’s applications. He added that the issues affected a critical crew-tracking tool, leaving the airline unable to “effectively handle the unprecedented number of changes” caused by the shutdown.
Bastian said the problem was made worse because the disruption occurred during what is expected to be Delta’s busiest holiday weekend of the summer.
Thursday was the third busiest day ever at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints across the country.
Unaccompanied minors are temporarily suspended from flying.
Delta has extended its suspension of unaccompanied minors through Tuesday (July 23) and extended a travel waiver that allows passengers more flexibility in changing their itineraries — a move made by other affected airlines, including United.
How Delta is responding
Delta said Sunday that it will provide meal vouchers, hotel accommodations and transportation to affected customers as needed. And, “as a gesture of apology,” Bastian said, the airline will provide customers with travel vouchers and Delta SkyMiles.
DOT Refund Policy
Keep in mind, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation policy, Passengers whose flights are cancelled or significantly delayed are entitled to a refund — to the original method of payment — for the unused portion of their ticket if they ultimately decide not to fly and do not accept a rebooking.
Technological challenges remain
Delta notes that customers can track and manage itinerary changes on the airline’s website and mobile app, but the airline notes that those tools “have been overwhelmed with traffic, causing intermittent performance challenges.”
The airline said it was working to stabilize those tools and warned that its ability to respond to social media messages was also limited.
United Airlines
In its latest update on Saturday, United told TPG that its customer service call system had been fully restored and noted that most of its technology systems were back up and running — but warned that there were likely to be additional flight cancellations and delays throughout the weekend.
FlightAware data shows the number of canceled flights in the United States on Saturday was down 37% from Friday — but still topped 1,600 for the day, led by Delta’s 1,200.
Delta and United’s major hubs were among the hardest hit airports in the United States this weekend, from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), Denver International Airport (DEN) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) — among many others.
How much do airlines owe you after a flight cancellation or delay?
Although the problem stems from a third party, not the airlines directly, the U.S. Department of Transportation considers these cancellations and delays to be “controllable” — in other words, the airlines’ responsibility — an agency spokesperson told TPG on Friday.
This means that the promises made by airlines in their Airline Customer Service Dashboard will apply. Here’s what each airline told the DOT they’ll ensure after cancellation or significant delay.
Other important resources:
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took to social media on Saturday to remind about the agency’s refund policy.
“I’ve heard reports that some airlines are only offering flight credits,” Buttigieg wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Let me be clear — you are entitled to an immediate refund if your flight is canceled and you don’t rebook.”
An exception in 2024
The disruptions over the past 48 hours come amid a year with virtually no major air travel incidents.
According to FlightAware, from January 1 to July 18, US airlines canceled 1.3% of flights. That compares with a cancellation rate of 2.6% during the same period in 2022.
Delta has been particularly praised for its operational reliability throughout its operations. Q2 Earnings Call on July 11. The carrier has scored highly in both categories recently. JD Power Airline Ratings And TPG’s Best Airlines 2024 Report partly due to operational reliability.
The industry’s most recent large-scale operational problems include a multi-day breakdown at United last summer that forced the airline to ground its Strengthening Cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration about activities in Newark …and a FAA Computer Crash in January 2023 That prompted the first nationwide grounding since September 11, 2001. The latter incident occurred just days after the 2022 Southwest Airlines crash. disaster operations during the holiday.
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