The U.S. Department of Transportation announced on Tuesday, July 23, that it is opening an investigation into Delta Air Lines.
The company canceled more than 5,000 flights since Friday (July 19), in response to a global cyber outage that hit airlines, banks, institutions, and companies worldwide.
While other carriers were rapidly able to resume normal operations, Delta continued to cancel hundreds of flights over the next few days.
From Friday to Monday, the airline canceled at least 30 percent of its daily flights, including 418 flights on Tuesday, or 12 percent of its schedule as of that 9 a.m. Another 10 percent of Delta flights were delayed, according to FlightAware.
Speaking on Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttgieg said the investigation is to “ensure the airline is following the law and taking care of its passengers during continued widespread disruptions… Our department will leverage the full extent of our investigative and enforcement power to ensure the rights of Delta’s passengers are upheld.”
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The difficulties faced by Delta and other firms occurred starting July 19 following a software update by global cybersecurity company Crowdstrike. The update caused system problems for Microsoft users ranging from airlines to banks to shopping centers.
In contrast to the weekend’s failures, Delta has been widely respected for running a reliable operation, with its reputation for on-time performance helping establish its position as a premium airline.
Many travelers complained they waited hours for assistance as the airline’s helplines were overwhelmed with requests. Some were forced to rent cars, driving hundreds of miles to get to destinations, while others said they would have to wait days for new flights.
In December, Southwest Airlines agreed to a record-setting 140 million dollars civil penalty over the 2022 holiday meltdown, which led to 16,900 flight cancellations and stranded 2 million passengers, resolving a Department of Transportation investigation.
Reuters contributed to this report.
