Delta CEO sees flight disruptions lasting for another couple of days
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[July 23, 2024]
By Rajesh Kumar Singh and David Shepardson
(Reuters) -Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian on Monday said it will take
the U.S. carrier another couple of days before its operations recover
from a global cyber outage that snarled flights around the world.
The Atlanta-based carrier has been hit hard by the outage. It has
canceled over 4,000 flights since Friday, stranding thousands of
customers across the country. By contrast, disruptions at other major
U.S. carriers had largely subsided.
On Monday, Delta had canceled over 800 flights, or about 21% of the
scheduled total as of 3:30 p.m. EST, according to data from FlightAware.
It accounted for about half of total flight cancellations.
A software update by global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike triggered
system problems for Microsoft customers, including many airlines, on
Friday.
In a video message to employees on Monday, Bastian and Chief information
officer Rahul Samant provided an update on the situation.
Bastian said the company is working around the clock to get its
operation back on track, but it will take another couple of days before
the worst is over.
"Today will be a better day than yesterday and hopefully Tuesday and
Wednesday will be that much better again," he said.
The company's shares closed down about 3.5% at $43.83.
About 60% of most critical applications that Delta uses are Microsoft
Windows based, and were rendered inoperable early on Friday following
CrowdStrike's faulty Windows update, the airline said.
Delta's IT teams required to manually repair and reboot each of the
affected systems, with additional time needed for applications to
synchronize and start communicating with each other.
But its crew tracker application - which ensures all flights have a full
crew in the right place at the right time - is requiring the most time
and manual support to synchronize, Delta said.
"Everything except that critical system is up and running," Samant said.
"And that is what we're working on feverishly."
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Delta employees show up to help out as people wait to retrieve their
luggage after long delays following cyber outages affecting airlines
at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta,
Georgia, U.S., July 22, 2024. REUTERS/Megan Varner
CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS
Delta is widely respected for running a reliable operation. Analysts
say its on-time performance in terms of arrivals and departures has
helped the airline cement its position as a premium airline.
The issue has left customers fuming. Many complained that they had
to wait hours for assistance as the airline's helplines were
overwhelmed. Some were forced to rent cars to drive hundreds of
miles, while others said they would have to wait days for new
flights.
"I was very disappointed in the way Delta handled this," wrote Bob
Pearlman on LinkedIn, who had booked a flight from Honolulu to Salt
Lake City.
Bastian said the outage hit the airline on "the busiest travel
weekend of the summer," limiting its re-accommodation capabilities.
The company said its crews are fully staffed and ready to serve our
customers.
In a staff memo seen by Reuters, Delta said it is "doing everything
possible" to bring stability to its staffing. It has boosted
incentive pay for pilots and flight attendants.
"The single biggest thing you can do to help at this point is to
pick up trips in any base," it said in the memo, a request for crew
to volunteer for extra trips.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Sunday his office
had received hundreds of complaints about Delta's customer service
and asked the airline to provide prompt refunds, free rebooking and
timely reimbursements to customers.
(Reporting By Rajesh Kumar Singh and David Shepardson; Editing by
Kirsten Donovan., Nick Zieminski and Aurora Ellis)
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