The Department of Transportation is currently investigating Delta Air Lines to ensure that the airline is adequately addressing consumer concerns following a series of flight cancellations tied to a global tech outage last week.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg emphasized the rights of airline passengers in a statement shared on social media, asserting that all passengers deserve fair treatment. He mentioned that his department has received numerous complaints regarding Delta’s handling of the situation.
Delta, headquartered in Atlanta, has been working to restore full operations after a problematic software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike caused disruptions worldwide. This software defect affected Microsoft’s Windows operating systems, which left many corporate users facing significant access issues, including some encountering the notorious “Blue Screen of Death.”
The incident impacted nearly every major industry, notably healthcare, delivery services, retail, and finance, but airlines experienced some of the most severe disruptions. On Friday alone, over 46,000 flights experienced delays, and an additional 5,171 were canceled, according to data from FlightAware. Delta Airlines faced the brunt of this impact.
During Friday and Saturday, Delta canceled approximately 3,500 flights. The airline reported more than 2,500 cancellations and over 3,400 delays on Sunday and Monday. As of Tuesday, another 738 flights had been canceled or delayed.
Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian, expressed regret over the cancellations, stating, “Canceling a flight is always a last resort, and something we don’t take lightly. I want to apologize to every one of you who have been impacted by these events. Delta is in the business of connecting the world, and we understand how difficult it can be when your travels are disrupted.”
Bastian noted that Delta relies on numerous applications that run on Microsoft Windows, including a crucial tool for crew tracking that was affected by the system failure. In response to the situation, Delta has introduced a travel waiver allowing customers to change their flights at no extra cost, along with offering meal vouchers, hotel accommodations, and transportation options.