Delta Air Lines operations normalize Thursday, reimbursements offered
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (FOX 9) - After nearly a week of increased delays and cancelations stemming from a tech outage, Delta Air Lines says its operations have returned to normal – reporting zero canceled mainline and connection flights on Thursday.
The initial outage began on July 19, when a failed Windows update parlayed cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike into an outage that left users around the world unable to access its cloud computing platforms, causing major problems for banks, airlines, media outlets, and more. CrowdStrike has since noted the issue was not a cyberattack.
As part of the outage, Delta told FOX 9 that unaccompanied minor travel was paused from July 19 to July 21. Minors traveling by themselves who were already booked to travel were not able to travel.
Delta still struggles with delays, cancellations
It’s been nearly a week since a global tech outage led to thousands of flight cancellations, but Delta Air Lines is still struggling to get back on track. The company’s CEO believes there will be minimal disruptions on Wednesday, and Thursday is expected to be a relatively normal day. FOX 9’s Se Kwon visits MSP Airport to see how things are progressing.
Thousands of customers also reported missing luggage when their flight did depart on time.
However, Delta says it expects to continue to level out its operations into Friday, and efforts are still underway to reunite customers with their bags.
"Delta is committed to caring for our customers during this time, and has taken a number of other steps to make things right for customers affected by delays and cancelations," the company said in a statement.
The airline says the average call and messaging wait times to speak with its reservations line is now "consistently below two minutes" after customers previously reported waiting up to seven hours for any sort of response.
The company says it will continue to offer meal vouchers, ground transportation and hotel accommodations to customers whose travel plans were canceled or significantly delayed.
"We know many customers have incurred unplanned travel expenses, including purchasing tickets on other airlines, rental cars, train tickets and more. Delta will cover reasonable costs for additional categories of expenses incurred," Delta said in an update on Thursday.
It will also issue SkyMiles Program miles, or a travel voucher, for an amount based on the customer’s affected travels.
Delta has extended a travel waiver for all customers with travel booked from July 19-28, when re-booked on or before Aug. 4.
On Wednesday, Delta CEO Ed Bastian sent a statement to customers, saying in part, "I know the last few days have been difficult. To our customers who were impacted, I want to thank you for your patience and apologize again for the disruption to your travel."
Federal investigation
The Department of Transportation has launched an investigation into Delta Air Lines, its struggles to restore operations and how customers have been compensated.
The investigation is to ensure that Delta is treating customers as required under passenger protection laws, which, among other things, require prompt refunds and reimbursements for food and lodging.
"You shouldn’t be forced to sleep on the floor of an airport or stranded without access to customer service help. We are taking action to investigate Delta for its treatment of passengers," said U.S. Secretary Pete Buttigieg in a post on X.