Delta cancels 700 flights as tech meltdown fallout continues

Delta Air Lines Inc. canceled more than 700 flights on Monday as the carrier continued to suffer from a sweeping technology outage from which its rivals have largely recovered.

The cancellations represented about 20% of Delta’s domestic schedule, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. The Atlanta-based company has stood out as the airline most affected by Friday’s outage caused by CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. American Airlines Group Inc. by contrast had cut 43 flights as of early Monday afternoon while United Airlines Holdings Inc. scrapped just 19. 

Delta shares traded down 2% as of 12:14 p.m. in New York, after falling more than 4% earlier. American and United each saw modest gains.

Delta Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian apologized on Sunday for the cancellations, blaming the impact on a “significant number” of functions that rely on Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system, including its crew-tracking tools, rendering the airline unable to process large volumes of changes to flights and their crews.

“I want to apologize to every one of you who have been impacted by these events,” Bastian said in a statement, adding, “we understand how difficult it can be when your travels are disrupted.”

All-in, the chaos led to more than 3,500 flights being canceled through Saturday, Bastian said, with more cancellations rippling into this week as the airline struggled to regain its footing. The disruption occurring during the profitable peak summer period is hurting Delta, with flights exceeding 90% capacity, making it harder to rebook customers. The carrier still was trying to manage crew tracking issues Monday, a spokesman said in an email.

Delta canceled more than 1,200 flights on each of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, according to FlightAware. The carrier accounted for the bulk of Sunday’s cancellations, while United also axed several hundred flights. 

American, which was among the first companies on Friday to quickly get back to normal, canceled fewer than 100 on Sunday.

US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg criticized Delta’s handling of the chaos, citing its “continued disruptions and unacceptable customer service conditions.”

“Delta must provide prompt refunds to consumers who choose not to take rebooking, free rebooking for those who do, and timely reimbursements for food and hotel stays to consumers affected by these delays and cancellations,” Buttigieg posted on X.

Since it erupted Friday, the global travel chaos has affected airlines and airports to varying degrees depending on the systems impacted and the vendors used.

Some self-check in airport systems were rendered useless, passengers couldn’t access ticket reservations, or airlines were not able to use cockpit communications systems. At some airports, airlines resorted to checking in passengers manually with hand-written boarding passes.

A faulty software update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike was responsible for 8.5 million computers worldwide seizing up, affecting everything from medical appointments to investment banks and train operators.

After Microsoft, CrowdStrike is the second-biggest maker of “modern endpoint protection” software and controls 18% of the $12.6 billion market, according to research firm IDC.