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DOT launches investigation into Delta over flight disruptions following IT failure

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The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Tuesday that it had launched an investigation into the airline’s treatment of its passengers. The airline had canceled hundreds of flights for the fifth day in a row – disruptions that had caused chaos at its hub, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.

The airline’s problems began with a global computer outage on Friday that triggered a wave of flight cancellations. But Delta said a key system for scheduling crews was affected, and it struggled to recover while other airlines quickly returned to normal. The airline canceled 440 flights on Tuesday, in addition to nearly 1,200 on Monday – about a third of its schedule.

A majority of the cancellations involved flights through Delta’s huge base in Atlanta. Local news showed unclaimed baggage piling up at the airport and crowds of people trying to get help.

Delta did not immediately respond to questions Tuesday. Ed Bastian, the airline’s chief executive, said in a message to employees Monday that the company was working around the clock to get back on its feet.

Delta is the latest airline to experience a sustained wave of cancellations since the coronavirus pandemic began. They often began with an external issue like bad weather before revealing weaknesses in the airline’s internal operations. The situation at Delta is similar to a collapse at Southwest at Christmas 2022 that began with bad weather but escalated when the airline’s scheduling system was overwhelmed.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement on Tuesday that Delta must take care of its passengers.

“This is not only the right thing to do, it is the law, and our department will use the full extent of our investigative and enforcement powers to ensure that the rights of Delta passengers are upheld,” Buttigieg said on X.

The department’s actions are consistent with the aggressive stance the Biden administration has taken to ensure airlines meet their obligations to customers amid a record number of consumer complaints. Regulators launched a similar investigation after Southwest’s bankruptcy in December 2022 and fined the airline $140 million for its handling of the crisis.

On Tuesday, Delta continued to show progress in its efforts to restore operations after a software update knocked out computer systems worldwide on Friday, causing flight delays around the world. Although several major airlines were able to recover relatively quickly, Delta continued to struggle throughout the weekend and into this week.

According to flight tracking website FlightAware.com, the airline canceled over 40 percent of scheduled flights on Sunday.

In a blog post published on Sunday, Bastian said the airline’s recovery was made difficult by the fact that the outage affected the tool the airline uses to track crew members. The disruption of that system made it impossible for the airline to process the schedule changes caused by the outage, he said.

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