MORE than 1,500 flights in the US were canceled for a third straight day, as airlines struggled to recover from a global technology outage that left thousands of passengers stranded at airports.
About 1,600 flights to, from or within the United States were canceled Sunday night, while more than 8,500 U.S. flights were delayed, according to tracking site FlightAware.com.
More than 1,000 of those cancellations came from Delta Air Lines, according to the site.
The airline continues recovery efforts after “technology issues from an outside vendor” caused delays and cancellations, Delta said Sunday. The airline is communicating directly with some affected customers, offering travel vouchers, waivers and SkyMiles Program miles, it said.
In an update to Delta customers Sunday afternoon, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said the airline’s teams were still working to restore their systems and restore operations.
“Canceling flights is always a last resort, and something we don’t take lightly,” Bastian said.
Also read: IAS Transforms Aviation Support Services on a Global Scale
On Saturday, 2,136 flights from various airlines were canceled, and more than 21,300 flights were delayed, according to FlightAware.
The problem extends beyond airports, with businesses, government agencies, health and emergency services, banks, schools and universities around the world experiencing service disruptions or shutdowns due to a flawed software update for Microsoft’s Windows operating system issued by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, experts told CNN.
The outage affected about 8.5 million Windows devices, according to Microsoft.
Also read: New Lombok-Balikpapan Flight Route Opened
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz apologized to customers and said a fix had been implemented, but experts said getting the system back up and running would take a long time.
Major airlines have said services are being restored, but there may be further delays and disruption.
United Airlines’ systems were largely restored from the outage Friday, though some delays and cancellations were still possible, the airline said in a statement. More than 400 United flights were canceled Saturday, and more than 200 were canceled Sunday, according to FlightAware.com.
Also read: Garuda Hajj Pilgrims’ Pick-up Plane Experiences Engine Problems, Replacement Plane Flown
Delta has suspended travel for unaccompanied minors through Wednesday due to the disruption, the airline announced over the weekend. Unaccompanied minors already booked on Delta flights will not be able to travel, and the airline has asked that no new flights be booked for them.
Also affected was American Airlines, which said in a statement Friday that “we were able to safely resume our operations” and had “issued travel relief to our customers impacted by the vendor technology issue this morning.”
Allegiant Air said in a statement Saturday that “normal operations have resumed” after the disruption, and that it was processing a backlog of customer messages and resolving issues with its programming and platforms.
While the flawed computer update has been rolled back, it’s not a quick fix for the airline, which has computers at thousands of gates that need to be manually rebooted, David Kennedy, co-founder of cybersecurity firm Binary Defense, told CNN on Saturday.
“It’s not as simple as rebooting. There are a lot of other steps and complexities involved,” Kennedy said. “There aren’t enough people at those airports to do it.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation said it determines flight delays and cancellations caused by system disruptions are “controllable,” meaning they are “caused by the airline.” In such cases, airlines “must adhere to their customer service commitments.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a social media post Saturday that he had received reports that some airlines were only offering passengers flight credits for canceled flights.
“Let me be clear — you are entitled to your money back immediately if your flight is canceled and you do not rebook,” Buttigieg said.
Passengers disappointed
Flight cancellations continue at the world’s busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, where officials have implemented a “concession crisis plan, ensuring concessions are available while all flights are operating.”
“We have provided assistance and guidance to passengers who spent the night at the airport, and we are working with our airlines to create space for a baggage reunification area,” an airport spokesperson told CNN on Sunday.
“It seems like no one cares about us. We’re sleeping on the floor. There are kids sleeping on the floor and no one is doing anything,” traveler Anthony Augugliaro told CNN affiliate WSB on Sunday.
Long lines of passengers also waited for help at the airport Saturday. Delta passenger Catalina Villareal described the scene: “Chaos. Chaos. Frustration. Hungry.”
Villareal said he had three flight cancellations.
Charlotte Yeh, a traveler at Boston’s Logan International Airport, told CNN affiliate WFXT Saturday she received no notification her flight to Fort Lauderdale for her father’s 96th birthday was canceled.
Thousands of people face the same uncertainty as they gather at airports across the country, waiting for answers.
“I was supposed to be in California for my mother’s wedding,” Richard Whitfield of Pasco County, Florida, told CNN Saturday. Whitfield and his partner, Jonathan Shade, left Tampa on Thursday and missed their connecting flight in Atlanta because of bad weather conditions, which delayed their landing and forced the plane to refuel in Tallahassee.
After their rescheduled flight Friday was delayed several times, the couple decided to cancel the trip and head home. However, with no flights available back to Tampa Friday night, they spent a second night at an airport hotel. They were unable to get a voucher from Delta for either of their two stays.
“(Richard had) been waiting for 24 hours,” Shade told CNN. “When he finally got a queue number, it was 2,001.”
Two hours later, Richard’s place in Delta Air Lines’ virtual customer service queue was 2,300th, Shade said.
Whitfield told CNN that the whole incident took a toll on him.
“To me, this is a domino effect that impacts humanity and everything we need to survive: food, sleep, water, shelter,” he said.
After spending 48 hours in Atlanta, they found a Saturday night flight back to Tampa that they hoped would not be delayed or canceled. For now, there was nothing the couple could do but wait and “enjoy some good booze,” Shade and Whitfield said. (CNN/Z-3)
#Flights #Canceled #Due #Global #Tech #Outage
