By T. Jayani, JadeTimes News
The United States has initiated an investigation into Delta Airlines as the company struggles to recover from a global IT outage that occurred last week. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg emphasized that Delta must provide passengers with refunds and other compensation for travel disruptions as mandated by law.
Delta, which has cancelled over 5,000 flights since the incident began on Friday, indicated that normal operations might not resume for several more days. The company has already cancelled more than 400 flights and delayed hundreds more on Tuesday morning, following over 1,150 cancellations the previous day, according to Flight Aware.
The incident, triggered by a faulty overnight update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, has also led to CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz being called to testify before Congress. The House Committee for Homeland Security acknowledged CrowdStrike’s response but stressed the severity of the incident, which affected an estimated 8.5 million Microsoft Windows devices globally, impacting airlines, healthcare systems, and other services. IT teams in many cases had to manually reboot computers.
Delta has faced significant challenges in recovering compared to other airlines, with its crew staffing system particularly affected. The company is now focused on restoring operations and is cooperating fully with the Department of Transportation's investigation. Delta stated that its teams are working tirelessly to address the delays and cancellations, aiming to restore the reliable service customers expect.
The incident has increased pressure on Delta, with Secretary Buttigieg asserting that all airline passengers have the right to fair treatment. He urged passengers to try resolving issues directly with the airline but also encouraged those who feel Delta has not complied with passenger protection requirements to report their concerns.
Senator Maria Cantwell, leading the Senate commerce committee, criticized Delta for its slow recovery compared to other airlines and for inaccurately describing passenger rights to refunds on its website. She also highlighted Delta's responsibility to ensure the availability of live customer service agents to assist customers. While acknowledging that the outage was not caused by Delta, Senator Cantwell expressed concern that the airline is not adequately protecting passenger needs.
In April, the Biden administration implemented a rule requiring airlines to promptly and automatically refund passengers for significant travel changes, part of a broader initiative to enhance airline accountability following several major travel disruptions. Last year, Southwest Airlines agreed to pay $140 million to resolve a Department of Transportation investigation after a storm caused widespread cancellations during the busy 2022 holiday travel period.
Comments