Delta Air Lines faced significant operational challenges on Monday, canceling hundreds of flights as the airline worked to recover from a global software outage that affected travel for several days.
On Sunday, Delta canceled approximately 1,300 flights and delayed another 1,600, as reported by FlightAware. This was on top of more than 3,500 cancellations of Delta and Delta Connection flights that occurred between Friday and Saturday. By Monday morning, Delta had already canceled 626 flights and delayed 144, which accounted for about 20% of its scheduled operations. In contrast, American Airlines only canceled 38 flights and delayed 155, or about 5% of its operations.
The disruptions were linked to a failed software update by the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which negatively impacted Microsoft’s Windows operating systems. As a result, corporate users struggled to access their systems and experienced issues such as the notorious “Blue Screen of Death.”
The software incident affected a wide range of industries, including healthcare, delivery, retail, and finance, but airlines and airports were particularly hard hit. On Friday alone, more than 46,000 flights experienced delays, while 5,171 were canceled, with Delta suffering the most significant impact.
Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian, expressed regret over the situation, 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.” He noted that a critical tool used for crew tracking was rendered unusable due to the system issues. To assist affected travelers, Delta implemented a travel waiver for free flight changes and offered meal vouchers, hotel accommodations, and transportation.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also commented on the situation, mentioning that the Department of Transportation received numerous complaints regarding Delta’s response to the disruptions. He emphasized that Delta must ensure refunds, free rebooking, and timely reimbursements for expenses incurred by travelers impacted by the flight cancellations. Buttigieg stated, “No one should be stranded at an airport overnight or stuck on hold for hours waiting to talk to a customer service agent.”