News

Flight cancellations top 7,000 since IT snafu; Delta CEO apologies after weekend woes

Sean CudahySenior Aviation Reporter
Sean Cudahy is an aviation reporter covering news about airlines, frequent flyer programs and consumer travel issues.

July 21, 2024 • 7 min read

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Editorial note: this story has been updated with new information

Quick summary

A widespread tech outage linked to a third-party vendor caused mass flight cancellations across major U.S. airlines for a third consecutive day, heavily impacting operations and stranding travelers.
Delta and United were the most affected, with Delta canceling over 1,000 flights Sunday and extending travel waivers and service pauses, including for unaccompanied minors.
Airlines are offering meal vouchers, hotel accommodations and travel vouchers to affected passengers, while also facing challenges with overwhelmed digital customer service tools.
Under U.S. Department of Transportation policy, travelers are entitled to refunds for canceled or significantly delayed flights if they choose not to rebook.

What to consider

Delta has paused unaccompanied minor travel through July 23 and extended flexible rebooking options for impacted travelers.
Customer service channels, including websites and apps, may experience delays due to high traffic volumes.
Despite the disruptions being caused by a third-party, the Department of Transportation considers these cancellations the airlines' responsibility, ensuring passenger protections apply.

What you'll miss from the article

A detailed breakdown of what airlines are required to provide after cancellations or delays, plus practical steps to take if your flight is affected.

Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.

Mass flight cancellations snarled U.S. airports for a third consecutive day Sunday, the lingering fallout after a Friday tech glitch affecting Microsoft Windows clients caused worldwide I.T. infrastructure outages— and upended many airline operations, even prompting an apology from Delta Air Lines' CEO Sunday afternoon.

Delta and United Airlines again canceled hundreds of flights Sunday, as the two carriers continued working to recover their operations in the wake of the problems caused by a third-party vendor late last week.

The problems have led to packed terminals at airports across the country this weekend, with long, snaking lines of travelers waiting to speak to customer service common — and images of passengers sleeping on airport concourse floors.

A Delta Air Lines customer service line Saturday at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW). JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES

By Sunday evening, airlines had canceled more than 1,700 flights in the U.S.

Delta led the way with more than 1,000 cancellations Sunday – more than a quarter of its operation, according to data from flight-tracking site FlightAware. United was second, with 262 cancellations Sunday — about 9% of its schedule.

In all, airlines have canceled more than 7,000 flights in the U.S. since Friday’s disruption — more than 3,400 of those on Delta, per FlightAware data.

In a note to customers Sunday afternoon, Delta CEO Ed Bastian apologized for the prolonged disruptions.

"Delta is in the business of connecting the world, and we understand how difficult it can be when your travels are disrupted," Bastian said. "Thank you for your patience as we work through these issues, restore our operation and return to the reliability you expect from Delta."

Delta has already canceled at least 155 flights scheduled for Monday.

Delta Air Lines

The Atlanta-based carrier said Sunday it was still in the process of getting operations back on track following the I.T. outage at Austin-based Crowdstrike, which caused it — and several other U.S. airlines — to temporarily pause flying on Friday.

The problems affected the Microsoft Windows operating system that power numerous Delta applications, Bastian said. The problems affected a key crew-tracking tool, he added, leaving the airline unable to "effectively process the unprecedented number of changes" triggered by the shutdown.

Bastian said the problems were made worse by the fact that the disruptions came on what was expected to be Delta's busiest travel weekend of the summer.

Thursday was the third-busiest day ever across the country at Transportation Security Agency checkpoints.

Unaccompanied minor flying on pause

Delta has extended its pause on unaccompanied minor flying through Tuesday (July 23) and extended travel waivers that allow passengers more flexibility to make itinerary changes — a step taken by other affected carriers, including United.

How Delta is responding

Delta said Sunday it is offering meal vouchers, hotel accommodations and transportation to affected customers as needed. And, "as a gesture of apology," Bastian said, the carrier is providing customers with travel vouchers and Delta SkyMiles.

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DOT refund policy

Keep in mind, under U.S. Department of Transportation policy, travelers whose flight is canceled or significantly delayed are entitled to a refund — back to their original payment method — for the unused portion of their ticket if they ultimately choose not to fly, and don't accept rebooking.

Tech challenges persist

Delta notes that customers can monitor and manage itinerary changes on the airline's website and mobile app. However, the carrier noted these tools "have been inundated with traffic, causing intermittent performance challenges."

The airline said it's working to stabilize those tools, and warned that its ability to respond to social media messages is also limited.

United Airlines

In its most recent update Saturday, United told TPG its customer service call systems had been fully restored, and noted most technology systems were back up and running — but warned of additional cancellations and delays likely over the course of the weekend.

U.S. flight cancellations on Saturday were down 37% from Friday, FlightAware data shows — but still topped 1,600 for the day, led by Delta’s 1,200.

Key Delta and United hubs have been the most heavily affected U.S. airports this weekend, from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), Denver International Airport (DEN) and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) — among others.

The Microsoft Corp. Windows Recovery screen displayed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) Saturday. DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES

What do the airlines owe you after a cancellation or delay?

Though the issues stemmed from a third-party vendor, not the airlines directly, the U.S. Department of Transportation considers these cancellations and delays to be “controllable,” — in other words, the airline’s responsibility — an agency spokesperson told TPG Friday.

That means promises made by airlines spelled out in the Airline Customer Service Dashboard would apply. Here’s what each airline has told the DOT it will guarantee following a cancellation or significant delay.

Other important resources:

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg took to social media Saturday with a reminder of the agency’s refund policies.

"I am hearing reports of some airlines only offering flight credits,” Buttigieg wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Let me be clear – you are entitled to get your money back promptly if your flight is canceled and you don’t take a rebooking.”

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An outlier in 2024

The operational disruptions over the last 48 hours come amid a year that’s been largely without major air travel meltdowns.

Between Jan. 1 and July 18, U.S. carriers canceled 1.3% of flights, per FlightAware. Compare that to the 2.6% cancellation rate during that same period in 2022.

Delta specifically touted its operational reliability during the carrier's second-quarter earnings call on July 11. The carrier scored highly on both the recent J.D. Power airline rankings and TPG's 2024 Best Airlines Report due, in part, to its operational reliability.

The industry's most recent large-scale operational problems include a multi-day snafu at United last summer which prompted the carrier to step up its collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration on operations at Newark …and a January 2023 FAA computer outage that prompted the first nationwide ground stop since September 11, 2001. The latter incident came just days after Southwest Airlines’ 2022 holiday operational disaster.

Related reading:

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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