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Mass flights were canceled at U.S. airports for a third straight day on Sunday, due to the ongoing fallout from a technical glitch that occurred on Friday. Impact on Microsoft Windows customers It caused IT infrastructure outages around the world – and disrupted many airline operations.
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines canceled hundreds of flights on Sunday as the carriers continued to try to restore operations following problems caused by a third-party vendor late last week.
The problems have led to congestion at airport terminals across the country this week, with long lines of passengers waiting to speak to customer service – and images of passengers sleeping on airport lounge floors.
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By late Sunday morning, airlines had canceled more than 1,000 flights in the United States.
Delta led the way with more than 500 flights canceled Sunday — about 13% of its operations, according to data from flight-tracking site FlightAware. United came in second, with 253 flights canceled Sunday — about 8% of its schedule.
In all, airlines have canceled more than 6,500 flights in the United States since Friday’s disruptions — nearly 3,000 of those on Delta, according to FlightAware data.
Delta Air Lines
In a statement Saturday, the Atlanta-based airline said it was still in the process of getting operations back on track after an IT outage at Austin-based CrowdStrike caused it — and several other U.S. airlines — to temporarily stop flying on Friday.
Delta has extended its suspension of flights for unaccompanied children through Tuesday (July 23) and extended travel waivers that allow passengers more flexibility to make changes to their flight itinerary — a move other airlines, including United, have taken.
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United Airlines
In its latest update on Saturday, United told TPG that its customer service communication systems had been fully restored, and noted that most technology systems were back up and running — but warned of more cancellations and delays possible over the weekend.
Flight cancellations in the U.S. fell 37% on Saturday compared to Friday — but were still above 1,600 for the day, led by Delta, which recorded 1,200 cancellations, FlightAware data showed.
Delta and United’s main hubs were the hardest hit at U.S. airports this week, from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), Denver International Airport (DEN) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) — among others.
What do airlines owe you after a cancellation or delay?
Although the problems were caused by a third party, not the airlines directly, the U.S. Department of Transportation considers these cancellations and delays “controllable,” or in other words, the airline’s responsibility, an agency spokesperson told TPG on Friday.
This means that the promises made by the airlines and stated on the airlines’ customer service dashboard will apply. Here’s what each airline has told the U.S. Department of Transportation it will guarantee after a cancellation or major delay.
Other important resources:
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took to social media Saturday to point out the agency’s refund policies.
“I’ve heard reports that some airlines are only offering flight credits,” Buttigieg wrote on Twitter. “Let me be clear — you are entitled to an immediate refund if your flight is canceled and you do not rebook.”
Anomaly in 2024
The operational disruptions over the past 48 hours come amid a year that has largely seen no major collapses in air travel.
From Jan. 1 to July 18, U.S. airlines canceled 1.3% of flights, according to FlightAware. Compare that to a 2.6% cancellation rate during the same period in 2022.
Delta specifically touted its operational reliability during the carrier’s tenure. The second quarter earnings call will be held on July 11.
“Our operations this year are the best in the industry by every metric, every month, month after month,” CEO Ed Bastian said at the time. The company has earned high marks in both J.D. Power’s recent airline rankings and TPG’s 2024 Best Airlines report, in part due to its operational reliability.
“Unexpected disruptions like this are challenging and do not reflect the operational reliability and experiences that customers know and expect from us,” the company said Saturday.
The latest widespread operational problems in the industry include a multi-day problem at United last summer that prompted the airline to step up its cooperation with the FAA over operations at Newark… and an FAA computer outage in January 2023 that prompted the first nationwide grounding since Sept. 11, 2001. The latest incident came just days after Southwest Airlines’ operational disaster over the 2022 holiday season.
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