Delta employees are “working 24/7″ to get the airline’s global operations back on track after cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike’s faulty Windows update rendered IT systems of companies across the globe inoperable.
“We’ve got everyone around the company working around the clock to get this operation where it needs to be,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a video message to employees on Monday. “Keep taking great care of our customers and each other in the coming days.”
Upward of half of Delta’s IT systems worldwide are Windows based, the company said in a statement. The CrowdStrike error required Delta’s IT teams to manually repair and reboot each of the affected systems, with additional time then needed for applications to synchronize and start communicating with each other.
“Delta’s crews are fully staffed and ready to serve our customers, but one of Delta’s most critical systems – which ensures all flights have a full crew in the right place at the right time – is deeply complex and is requiring the most time and manual support to synchronize,” the company said.
Across the company, Delta teams are “working tirelessly to care for customers impacted by delays and cancellations as the airline works to put flight crews and aircraft back in position following the disruption,” the company said.
Delta said it is also taking the following steps to “make it right” for its customers:
Extending a travel waiver. Delta extended a travel waiver for all customers with travel booked from July 19-23. The waiver offers customers the ability to make a one-time change to their itinerary. The fare difference for customers will be waived when rebooked travel occurs on or before July 28, in the same cabin of service as originally booked. Customers are encouraged to manage changes to their travel via delta.com or the Fly Delta app.
Right to Refund Upon Request. Customers whose travel has been disrupted due to a canceled or significantly delayed flight may choose to cancel their travel and receive an eCredit for the unflown portion of the trip, or may instead request a refund at delta.com/refund.
Issuing SkyMiles Program miles or a travel voucher in an amount based on the customer’s affected travels.
Covering eligible expenses resulting from this flight disruption, including providing meal vouchers, hotel accommodations where available and ground transportation.
Reimbursement of eligible expenses. Customers who have incurred hotel, meal or ground transportation expenses while in transit during this operational disruption may submit eligible expenses for reimbursement.*
Reaching out to customers about cancellations and rebooking options. Delta is notifying customers about delays and cancellations in their itinerary via the Fly Delta app and text message, and offering rebooking options that can be managed online.
While customers can monitor and manage their itineraries on Delta.com or on the Fly Delta app, “these online tools have been inundated with traffic, causing intermittent performance challenges,” the company said.
“Delta teams are working to stabilize those tools. Also note that our ability to respond to service messages on social media platforms such as X are limited,” the company said.
*Delta does not reimburse prepaid expenses, including but not limited to hotel reservations at the customer’s destination, vacation experiences, lost wages, concerts or other tickets.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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