Delta Air Lines said it canceled almost 500 flights Tuesday as it tries to get operations back to normal following a computer systems failure Monday. Systems are now fully operational and flights have resumed but delays and cancellations remain as recovery efforts continue.
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“We were able to bring our systems back on line and resume flights within a few hours yesterday but we are still operating in recovery mode”, said Dave Holtz, Delta senior vice president, operations and customer center. By early afternoon, Delta said it had canceled about 530 flights as it moved planes and crews to “reset” its operation.
Such incidents show that computer and power systems for huge operations like airlines are “as important, or more important, as our bridges and other physical infrastructure that need to be constantly upgraded and maintained”, said Ramnath Chellappa, an Emory University business professor.
Making things worse for some passengers Tuesday morning, Delta’s flight-status updates weren’t working, as the Associated Press reports.
Delta is investigating why some critical systems and network equipment didn’t switch over to its backup systems following the power loss, the carrier said in a statement.
This has caused a lot of problems for travelers using Delta, the third-largest in the world by the number of passengers (138.8 million travelers last year).
The airline posted a video apology by CEO Ed Bastian. “Delta’s investigation into the causes is ongoing”. A spokesperson for the power company told the AP to lay the blame on Delta’s equipment, as no one else in the area experienced an outage.
Delta also extended a travel waiver to customers traveling today.
Although the airline was back online late on Monday, the outages were so widespread that it was forced to deal with the knock-on effects a day later.
“I have had zero communications from Delta”, said John Chapman, of Rome, while waiting in Atlanta for a flight to Milwaukee for an energy conference.
Delta Air Lines experienced a worldwide computer outage affecting flights on all its routes, according to Rolenda Faasuamalie, spokeswoman for the A.B. Won Pat International Airport Authority.
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United Airlines stranded thousands of passengers after a failed attempt to merge its technology systems with Continental Airlines’s during their 2010 merger. The carrier didn’t estimate how long repairs would take. “I travel weekly, so I’m used to it”, Shannon said.
