Flight cancellations exceed 7,000 following IT issues; Delta's CEO offers apologies after a troublesome weekend

Massive flight cancellations continued to disrupt U.S. airports for a third straight day on Sunday, a residual effect of a Friday tech glitch affecting Microsoft Windows clients that caused global I.T. outages— significantly impacting airline operations and leading to an apology from Delta Air Lines' CEO on Sunday afternoon.

Delta and United Airlines once more canceled hundreds of flights on Sunday as both airlines worked diligently to restore their services following the issues caused by a third-party vendor late last week.

The disruptions have resulted in crowded terminals at airports nationwide this weekend, with long, winding lines of travelers seeking customer service assistance — and many images of passengers resting on the floors of airport concourses.

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

Delta experienced the most cancellations on Sunday, with over 1,000 flights affected—representing more than a quarter of its operations, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware. United Airlines followed with 262 cancellations, about 9% of its schedule.

In total, airlines have scrapped more than 7,000 flights in the U.S. since the disruption on Friday, with Delta accounting for over 3,400 of those cancellations, according to FlightAware data.

In a message to customers on Sunday afternoon, Delta CEO Ed Bastian expressed his apologies for the ongoing disruptions.

"Delta's mission is to connect the world, and we realize how challenging it can be when your travel plans are disrupted," Bastian stated. "We appreciate your patience as we work through these issues, restore our services, and regain the reliability you expect from Delta."

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

Delta Air Lines

The Atlanta-based airline announced on Sunday that it was still working to restore operations following the I.T. outage at Austin's Crowdstrike, which led it—and several other U.S. airlines—to temporarily halt flights on Friday.

According to Bastian, the issues impacted the Microsoft Windows operating system that supports many of Delta's applications. He noted that a crucial crew-tracking tool was affected, hindering the airline's ability to "adequately manage the extraordinary number of changes" caused by the outage.

Bastian mentioned that the situation was exacerbated by the fact that the disruptions occurred during what was anticipated to be Delta's busiest travel weekend of the summer.

Thursday marked the third-busiest day ever at Transportation Security Agency checkpoints nationwide.

Unaccompanied minor travel on hold

Delta has extended its suspension of unaccompanied minor travel through Tuesday (July 23) and has prolonged travel waivers, allowing passengers greater flexibility to adjust their itineraries — a measure also adopted by other affected airlines, including United.

Delta's response to the situation

Delta announced on Sunday that it is providing meal vouchers, hotel accommodations, and transportation for affected customers as necessary. Additionally, as a "gesture of apology," Bastian stated that the airline is offering travel vouchers and Delta SkyMiles to its customers.

DOT refund guidelines

It's important to note that under U.S. Department of Transportation regulations, travelers whose flights are canceled or significantly delayed are entitled to a refund to their original payment method for any unused ticket portions if they decide not to travel and do not accept rebooking.

Ongoing tech issues

Delta advises that customers can track and manage itinerary changes via the airline's website and mobile app. However, the airline mentioned that these tools have been overwhelmed with traffic, leading to occasional performance issues.

The airline is actively working to stabilize these tools and has indicated that its capacity to respond to social media inquiries is also restricted.

United Airlines

In its latest update on Saturday, United informed TPG that its customer service call systems have been completely restored, and most technology systems are operational again — though it cautioned that further cancellations and delays could occur throughout the weekend.

According to FlightAware data, U.S. flight cancellations on Saturday were down 37% compared to Friday — yet still exceeded 1,600 for the day, with Delta leading at 1,200 cancellations.

This weekend, key Delta and United hubs have been the most impacted U.S. airports, including Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), Denver International Airport (DEN), and Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), among others.

What are your rights when an airline cancels or delays your flight?

While the issues originated from a third-party vendor rather than the airlines themselves, the U.S. Department of Transportation views these cancellations and delays as "controllable," meaning the airline is accountable, according to an agency spokesperson who spoke to TPG on Friday.

This means that the commitments outlined by airlines in the Airline Customer Service Dashboard are applicable. Here’s what each airline has assured the DOT it will provide in case of a cancellation or major delay.

Other essential resources include:

• Flight delayed or canceled? Here’s your next steps
• You are entitled to a refund for your canceled flight—even if the DOT claims otherwise
• Know your airline passenger rights during a travel crisis
• Top 8 credit cards offering travel insurance as of July 2024

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg shared a reminder about the agency's refund policies on social media Saturday.

"I've received reports that some airlines are only providing flight credits," Buttigieg stated on X, formerly known as Twitter. "To be clear – if your flight is canceled and you choose not to rebook, you are entitled to a full refund without delay."

A rare event in 2024

The operational issues experienced over the past 48 hours occur during a year that has seen few significant disruptions in air travel.

From January 1 to July 18, U.S. airlines canceled 1.3% of their flights, according to FlightAware. In contrast, the cancellation rate for the same timeframe in 2022 was 2.6%.

During the carrier's second-quarter earnings call on July 11, Delta proudly emphasized its operational reliability. The airline achieved high rankings in the latest J.D. Power airline rankings and TPG's 2024 Best Airlines Report, largely thanks to this reliability.

Recent major operational challenges in the industry include a multi-day issue at United last summer, which led the airline to enhance its collaboration with the Federal Aviation Administration regarding Newark operations, as well as a January 2023 FAA computer outage that resulted in the first nationwide ground stop since September 11, 2001. This incident occurred just days after Southwest Airlines' 2022 holiday operational crisis.