close
close

Atlanta Airport Extremely Busy As Delays, Cancellations Continue This Week – 95.5 WSB

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Atlanta’s airport has gone from the world’s busiest airport to perhaps the world’s busiest airport, for all the wrong reasons.

It has been three days of what passengers have described as a complete meltdown due to the ongoing global computer outage.

As of 11 p.m. on Sunday, there were still 1,100 delays and more than 600 cancellations.

Delta Air Lines is reportedly not allowing unaccompanied minors to book new flights, and those already booked will not be allowed to fly until at least Tuesday.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian said one of their crew tracking tools was impacted by the computer outage, making it difficult to process changes.

Additionally, passengers have been waiting so long that they are forced to sit on chairs while queuing for assistance.

“I’ve spent the last 40 hours in two different airports…and slept on two different floors of the airport,” traveler Anthony Augugliaro said.

Delta is the airline most affected by delays and cancellations. According to data from Flight Aware, nearly half of the canceled flights in Atlanta were due to Delta.

“I finally booked a flight today, but it’s Tuesday morning, but I had to book it through Southwest,” traveler Damond Washington said.

Delta has apologized and is now offering exemptions to passengers who have been stranded for days. But many people are still sleeping on the floor or on their luggage.

“I feel like nobody cares about us,” Augugliaro said.

Delta officials said in a statement that they are “communicating directly with affected customers, offering an acknowledgment of the disruption, an apology and the issuance of SkyMiles miles or a travel voucher.”

“Nobody makes it easy for us,” Augugliaro said.

And while vouchers and waivers are helpful, passengers are frustrated because even alternatives require a long wait.

Whether in an airport or by ground transportation, most travelers are still far from their destination.

“I was willing to take a Greyhound for 15 hours to get home,” Augugliaro said.

There are also several bags of luggage and the travelers are probably stuck at another airport.

That’s why College Park city officials put together care packages for many travelers in need of personal care items. They were distributed Sunday and gone within minutes.

Computer outage leaves passengers stranded in Hartsfield Jackson, raises questions The Department of Transportation proposed a new rule in April that requires refunds for significant delays and cancellations.