U.S. airline regulators have launched an investigation into Delta Air Lines, which was still trying to resume operations on Tuesday, more than four days after a faulty software update caused global technical havoc and disrupted air travel around the world. Here, a Delta Air Lines plane takes off from Boston’s Logan International Airport on July 12, 2021.
Michael Dwyer/AP
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Michael Dwyer/AP
Visitors, be sure to exercise some patience. The chaos continues for Delta Air Lines, which has entered its fifth day of flight cancellations and delays since a global software outage on Friday.
While the Atlanta-based airline is still working to resume operations, the U.S. Department of Transportation has launched an investigation into the latest flight disruptions, citing the “numerous consumer complaints” it has received against Delta.
“We have made it clear to Delta that they must take care of their passengers and meet their customer service commitments,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement on Tuesday.
He added: “This is not only the right thing to do, it is the law, and our department will use our full investigative and enforcement powers to ensure the rights of Delta passengers are upheld.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, Delta had canceled more than 400 flights and delayed about 860 flights, according to flight tracking website FlightAware.
.@USDOT An investigation has been launched into Delta Air Lines to ensure the airline is complying with the law and taking care of passengers during the ongoing widespread disruption.
All airline passengers have the right to be treated fairly and I will ensure that this right is upheld.
— Secretary of State Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) July 23, 2024
In a statement to NPR, Delta acknowledged that the Department of Transportation had been notified of the investigation and said it was “fully cooperating” with the department.
“We remain fully focused on restoring operations after a faulty Windows update by cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike rendered IT systems around the world inoperable,” the airline said in a statement, adding that teams were working continuously to get its operations back to normal. .
On Monday, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said the airline has been working to restore software that tracks and schedules crew members. However, he noted that it may take several days for airline operations to fully resume.
“Everyone in our company is working around the clock to get this business to the level it needs to be,” Bastian said in a statement.
In an open letter on Sunday, Delta Air Lines offered travel exemptions to passengers on flights affected by the suspension, allowing them to change their itineraries and rebook their flights without paying any additional fees. But Buttigieg said in a post on
“Delta must provide prompt refunds to consumers who choose not to rebook, offer free rebooking to those who choose to rebook, and promptly reimburse consumers affected by these delays and cancellations for food and hotel accommodation expenses and provide adequate customer service assistance.
Millions of Microsoft users around the world were disconnected after cybersecurity group CrowdStrike released a flawed software update. CrowdStrike said the problem was not a cyberattack but a “software glitch.” After discovering the problem, the company said it had withdrawn the “problematic path files” affecting customer systems.
The technical issues Delta is experiencing are similar to those experienced by Southwest Airlines during the 2022 holiday travel season. The Dallas-based airline canceled thousands of flights, leaving millions of travelers stranded.
After the incident, the U.S. Department of Transportation said in a statement announcing the penalty that it ordered Southwest Airlines to pay a civil penalty of $140 million, which is the largest civil penalty levied by the Department of Transportation on consumers to date.
