The U.S. Department of Transportation is launching an investigation into Delta Air Lines, Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Tuesday, the fifth day of the airline's ongoing meltdown that has canceled more than 5,000 flights and counting since Friday.
What started with a worldwide software outage late last week that affected many major airlines has snowballed into an operational disaster for Delta – and Delta alone. As other airlines resumed flying smoothly this week, Delta scrapped more than 1,000 flights on Sunday and again Monday. By sunrise, the Atlanta-based airline had already canceled more than 400 flights scheduled for Tuesday.
All told, Delta has canceled more flights since Friday than it did in the entire two-year span from 2018 and 2019, according to federal records. And the meltdown isn't over yet: Delta hasn't publicly told customers when it could expect flights to resume operating smoothly, but airline executives have told employees they hope to get back on track by the weekend.
Thousands of cancellations and tens of thousands of delays have left millions of customers stranded at airports, struggling to rebook trips, or scrambling to find another way home. Social media is rife with stories of Delta flyers waiting hours in line or by phone to reach Delta, trying and failing to secure a night's hotel at the airline's expense, or wondering where their checked bags have wound up.
Delta has said it is offering bonus SkyMiles or vouchers as an apology and has promised to cover food and lodging for disrupted customers. But while the airline has said customers could request reimbursement for “hotel, meal or ground transportation expenses while in transit,” Delta made clear it will not cover lost hotel nights or other expenses at a traveler's final destination. It's also unclear whether Delta will reimburse passengers who book flights on another airline.
In a Tuesday morning post, Secretary Buttigieg said his department's investigation would “ensure the airline is following the law and taking care of its passengers during continued widespread disruptions.” It's less about what caused days of disruptions and more about how the airline may be falling short with helping customers.
“All airline passengers have the right to be treated fairly, and I will make sure that right is upheld,” Buttigieg said.
Delta confirmed it received a notice of investigation on Tuesday, continuing to point the finger solely at the CrowdStrike outage from late last week for its ongoing issues even as other airlines have resumed flying as normal.
“We remain entirely focused on restoring our operation after cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike’s faulty Windows update rendered IT systems across the globe inoperable,” a spokesperson said in a statement. Across our operation, Delta teams are working tirelessly to care for and make it right for customers impacted by delays and cancellations as we work to restore the reliable, on-time service they have come to expect from Delta.”
If the department finds Delta failed customers, it could eventually lead to a hefty federal fine.
That's exactly what happened after Southwest's historic meltdown over Christmas 2022, when the airline canceled nearly 17,000 flights over a 10-day span. Nearly a year later, the DOT slapped Southwest with a record $140 million fine – though that sum included more than $100 million in points the airline doled out as an apology to customers and IT improvements. Still, Southwest wound up paying a $35 million penalty directly to the U.S. Treasury.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.