Delta cancels ANOTHER 700 flights worldwide as it scrambles to recover from computer crash that left passengers stranded in airports overnight
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DELTA Air Lines have continued to be plagued by delays, forced to cancel another 775 flights after its computer system crashed yesterday.
The disruptions of one of the world's largest airlines follows about 1000 cancelled flights on Monday and about 2800 delayed flights.
The meltdown, caused by an outage at Delta's Atlanta headquarters, has meant crippling delays into today despite the system getting back on track about five hours after the outage.
The airline has also posted a video apology by its CEO Ed Bastian, offering refunds and $200 in travel vouchers to people whose flights were cancelled or delayed at least three hours.
But the airline has struggled to return to normal operations on Tuesday as it tries to find enough seats on planes during the busy summer vacation season.
The problems were compounded with the status of flights wrong, with passengers only realising their trips had been delayed after arriving and even after passing through security.
Delta spokesman Trebor Banstetter said that after the power outage, key systems and network equipment did not switch over to backups.
The investigation of the outage is ongoing, but Banstetter said that there is no indication that the problems were caused by a hack or intentional breach of the system.
Delta Air Lines has since extended travel waivers until Tuesday with customers also provided with hotel rooms and accommodation if necessary.
Georgia Power, which controls the system where the outage began, said it appeared that a failure of Delta equipment caused the airline's power disruption. No other customers lost power, a spokesman said.
Delta Air Lines Inc. is the third-largest in the world by number of passengers carried, with 138.8 million travelers last year, according to industry group IATA, but it ranks just behind American Airlines and Southwest Airlines.
Airlines depend on huge, overlapping and complicated systems to operate flights, ticketing, boarding, airport kiosks, websites and mobile phone apps. Even brief outages can now snarl traffic and, as the Delta incident shows, those problems can go global in seconds.
CEO Ed Bastian said they had teams working ";around the clock" to bring the system back.
He said: "I apologise for the challenges this has created for you with your travel experience.
"The Delta team is working very hard to restore and get these systems back as quickly as possible."
The disruption was so deeply rooted Monday that at one point, the airline warned travelers that information on its website, its app, and even given by its own employees in airports, may be outdated.
"By the time I showed up at the gate the employees were already disgruntled, and it was really difficult to get anybody to speak to me or get any information," said Ashley Roache, whose flight from Lexington, Kentucky, to New York's LaGuardia Airport was delayed.
"The company could have done a better job of explaining ... what was happening."
Upset customers have continued to inundate social media with their travel woes, many sharing photos of the huge lines Delta Air Lines has faced after the crash.
Thousands of customers have contacted the airlines with questions, with many worried about family members stranded due to cancelled flights and even if the airline will be able to resume its normal operations by the end of the week.
What Delta Air Lines passengers need to know on Tuesday
1. Customers traveling Tuesday should check the status of their flight at delta.com or the Fly Delta App. Customers can rebook their flight via the website.
2. Delays continue. Customers heading to the airport should expect delays and cancellations. While inquiries are high and wait times are long, our customer service agents are doing everything they can to assist.
3. Delta’s travel waiver has been extended to customers traveling on Tuesday.
4. Unaccompanied minors that have not yet begun travel will not be accepted until Wednesday. Those customers will be able to book without fee at a later date.
Travellers took to social media to vent their frustration with some even giving up and going home.
After hours of confusion and delays on Monday, the airline announced on social media that the ground stop had been lifted with "limited departures resuming".
Amanda Jackson yesterday told The Sun Online that she had been left at Heathrow for more than three hours trying to drop her bags.
She said: "I am through security now with a scrappy handwritten boarding pass, but absolutely no news about what's going on."
Despite the wait, she never made it to Seattle with the flight cancelled.
Travellers were yesterday forced to sleep on the floor with little news of when their flight would take off.
Sandra Longdon said her husband Tony was heading to the US for a couple of days for work but was left stranded at Heathrow in the Delta delays.
She said: "He's just messaged me to say that he's at the gate but there's no sign of boarding. It sounds like the computer system is partially fixed but they can't produce flight plans so won't be going anywhere."
She said her husband had arrived at Heathrow for his 9.40am flight to Minneapolis find the airport in chaos.
Ms Longdon said: "It was a right mess when he got there."
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Peter Taylor was ready for a morning flight from Heathrow to Boston this morning when he was hit with a delay of more than six hours.
Intending on travelling to the US for barely two days for business, Mr Taylor was forced to watch the precious amount of time he had in Boston dwindle away in the Delta delays.
He told The Sun Online: "I was heading to Boston and I was only going for two days so in the end I just gave up.
"The jetlag wasn't going to be worth it."
The project management speaker and author said passengers only realised something had gone wrong when the staff began to key in their passport details manually.
He said: "We told us about the global systems outage and from that point onwards it would be about an hour until we left. But it didn't end up like that."
Mr Taylor ended up giving up and getting a refund on his flight, saying the trip was no longer worth it.
The airline announced on Monday that: "A Delta ground stop has been lifted and limited departures are resuming following a power outage in Atlanta that impacted Delta computer systems and operations worldwide. Cancellations and delays continue.
"Customers heading to the airport should expect delays and cancellations. While inquiries are high and wait times are long, our customer service agents are doing everything they can to assist. There may also be some lag time in the display of accurate flight status at delta.com, the Fly Delta App and from Delta representatives on the phone and in airport."
The airline recently warned customers should expect further delays and cancellations.
Delta Air Lines has since said all travellers on Delta flights on August 8 and 9 would be able to claim a refund if their flight was cancelled or delayed for more than three hours.
In a statement, the airline said: ";If your flight is canceled or significantly delayed, you are entitled to a refund. Even if your flight is not canceled, you may make a one-time change to your ticket without fee if you are scheduled to travel to, from, or through the following destination(s) on Delta."
Delta Air Lines runs more 5000 flights a day.
Delta News released a statement shortly after the crash, saying: "A power outage in Atlanta, which began at approximately 2:30 a.m. ET, has impacted Delta computer systems and operations worldwide, resulting in flight delays. Large-scale cancellations are expected today.
"All flights enroute are operating normally. We are aware that flight status systems, including airport screens, are incorrectly showing flights on time. We apologize to customers who are affected by this issue, and our teams are working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible. "
Just after the crash, the airline said on social media that their systems were "down everywhere".
In one reply to travellers, the airline stated: "Unfortunately all flights are grounded due to a system outage nationwide. Hopefully it won't be much longer."
Delta Airlines said they were working to resolve the issue, telling one person on social media to keep their "fingers crossed".
According to , Delta Air Lines is one of the largest airlines in the world, with a market value of $34.4B.
The airline has also been ranked third in the world according to most passengers carried, according to industry body .
A Heathrow Airport spokesperson told The Sun Online: “Delta flights from Heathrow are experiencing delays due to the worldwide technical issue with their computer systems.
"Check-in is currently operating using a backup system and airport staff are on hand to assist any passengers that are impacted by the delays. Passengers should check with the airline for updates on their flights.”
Delta Air Lines is a major American airline with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia in the US.
It flies travellers to 335 destinations in 61 countries on six continents and has more than 15,000 daily flights.
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