Delta Flight Disruptions Leave Family of Five Stranded in Atlanta

ATLANTA — A massive computer outage causing flight delays has hit Atlanta’s airline particularly hard. Delta Airlines is under intense scrutiny from travelers and is now under investigation by the Department of Transportation, on the fifth day of problems.

As the disaster leaves hundreds stranded far from home, a family of five who recently returned to the United States from Paris is one of the hardest hit.

“We’ve been here since Friday. We have three small children and Delta has not helped us with a hotel voucher, transportation, nothing,” Fatima Johnson said.

She and her family were on holiday abroad for her birthday. On their flight home on Friday, family and friends alerted them to the CrowdStrike outage that was causing flight delays, but it was too late.

“They were telling us to extend our trip if we could, but we were already only three hours from Atlanta,” Johnson said.

Since then, she and her husband have been living in chaos. While trying to get home to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, two cancellations left them stranded in the city miles from home. They met with 11Alive’s Angelina Salcedo outside their hotel in Roswell to talk about their trip.

“The second cancellation was too many, and we had seats. I even took screenshots so I had proof. We arrived Monday and had just been dropped off to find out our flight had been canceled and Delta emailed me about it,” Johnson said.

The earliest they could get a new booking was Wednesday, but that flight wouldn’t get them home. The agents at the counter tried to get them hotel vouchers and accommodations, but the system was still down. They were told they would have to pay the bill and try to get a refund later.

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“Trying is the operative word here. You’re basically saying I’m not going to get my money back,” Fatima said, frustrated. She recounted her encounter at the airport when they rescheduled the family’s flight: “‘We’ll take you to Omaha, but in order for you to get to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, you have to rent a car, pay for it, and we won’t give you a refund.’ That’s what they said.”

Their trip to Paris was overshadowed by the problem with their preferred airline. They had the choice of returning to Paris and flying abroad, trying another airline at a cost of more than $4,000, or simply staying in Atlanta and paying for hotels and transportation themselves.

“Plus, we’re missing work and everything that’s going on at home! We’re suffering, our kids are suffering, and Delta is doing nothing,” Johnson said.

In an exclusive one-on-one interview with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, 11Alive learned that the family was entitled to refunds and accommodations that Delta failed to provide.

“Their expenses absolutely have to be covered in terms of ground transportation and hotels. Also, if your flight is canceled and you don’t rebook, you’re entitled to a cash refund, and that’s another thing that we enforce. If the airline is not living up to its responsibilities, I encourage that family, or any family, to go to our website, flightwrights.gov. Not only will you find information about your rights, but you’ll also find a way to report to us if an airline is not doing what they’re supposed to do. We will hold them accountable,” Buttigieg said.

The secretary of state said he has heard of people waiting in line with more than 100 people just to speak to a customer service agent and people sleeping on the floor at airports. That’s why Delta is now under investigation, he added.

“Delta had anticipated that things would be back to normal by today. They’re not, and that’s part of why we’re launching this investigation, obviously hoping and hoping that they resolve this issue quickly, because this has been going on for far too long. They seem to have issues that no other airline has in terms of cancellations and delays that are still ongoing, even now after about five days,” Buttigieg said.

He said it was the most “widespread and intense” crisis the department has seen since Southwest Airlines about a year and a half ago.

“One of the things that is common to this situation is that it affected everybody. In this case, it was a winter storm, but when all the other airlines were recovering, one airline had a different set of problems, and of course, it was Southwest. We ultimately investigated Southwest and found that there were multiple violations, which led to a record enforcement action of $140 million. I can’t say yet where that investigation will lead, but I will say that we sought to usher in a new era of passenger protection, and we’re going to hold ourselves to that high standard as we deal with this situation,” Buttigieg said.

As people wait for answers and flights to return on time, the Johnsons just want to go home.

“My favorite airline is Delta and it’s unfortunate that they’re so weak. At this point, we’re ready to go back to work and my kids are ready to go home,” Johnson said.

They’ll try to fly out of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport around noon Wednesday, then rent a car in Omaha, Nebraska, and make the two-hour drive home. Their story is a reminder that travelers deserve protections. If you’re being challenged by your airline, the Department of Transportation urges you to do so here.