Frustration continues as more flights canceled, delayed at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport
ATLANTA - Monday marked day four of travel woes following a global software outage that affected airlines, banks and other businesses.
According to FlightAware, hundreds of flights to and from Hartsfield-Jackson were canceled or delayed on Monday. Many of them were with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines.
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"We've been up since about three o'clock to go to Kansas City and our flight's been canceled, and now our luggage is lost," said Delta customer, Keith Wright on Monday morning.
Wright was among several Delta customers who told FOX 5 their flights were canceled Monday, so they just wanted to grab their luggage and go home. However, there was a long line at the bag help area.
"Pretty bad. The flight got canceled when I was sitting at the gate, so, kind of disappointing. I drove all the way here and went through security, took forever, and then it got canceled," said Jack Cook, another Delta customer. "But, they waited to cancel it until we were already at the gate and now, we're having to wait in this line to get our bags. It's like, kind of making the problem worse, it seems like."
Delta is one of several airlines who were affected by the outage Friday. Delta CEO, Ed Bastian, released a statement Sunday saying in part, "The technology issue occurred on the busiest travel weekend of the summer, with our booked loads exceeding 90%, limiting our reaccommodation capabilities. I want to apologize to every one of you who have been impacted by these events. Delta is in the business of connecting the world, and we understand how difficult it can be when your travels are disrupted."
One customer told FOX 5 he decided to drive home instead of flying.
"We landed at four o'clock yesterday afternoon and got delayed three times and finally, at 12:30 at night last night, they said no more flights out of here," said Frost Readel, a Delta customer traveling home to Texas from a trip to Scotland.
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He says he hopes to reconnect with his luggage once arriving back in the Longhorn State.
"We're going to drive so that we can at least get there at the same time our bags do and pick up our stuff and go home," Readel said.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Spokesperson, Andrew Gobeil, says the airport is working to assist its airline partners during these busy times.
"We are providing space as needed for luggage reunification areas," Gobeil said. "With all of the luggage being brought in, some of the airlines might need extra space, so we're providing that as well."
The issue appears to have originated within the U.S.-based cybersecurity firm, CrowdStrike. That led to a major outage affecting Microsoft.
In a statement Monday, a Microsoft spokesperson said, "A CrowdStrike update was responsible for bringing down a number of IT systems globally. We are actively supporting customers to assist in their recovery."
How many Delta flights cancelled Monday morning?
Thousands of people are waiting to fly out of Atlanta as airlines continue to deal with the aftershocks of the global CrowdStrike outage.
More than 250 flights were canceled on Monday morning according to Flight Aware - most of which are with Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines. In total, more than 700 flights have been canceled in the last 24 hours.
Long lines and frustrated passengers have been a constant sight at the world's busiest airport since the outage.
On Thursday, just before the outage, just 63 flights were canceled at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. That number shot up to more than 5,000 a day later.
While most airlines say they have fixed the problems caused by the outage, the cancelations and delays continued over the week with travelers seeing hundreds of problems.
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In one terminal, piles of luggage were packed together by the baggage carousels waiting to be reunited with their owners.
In addition to the airport chaos, the software outage has impacted other areas. Emory Healthcare saw delays in surgeries, while Grady reported minor interruptions. Both expect to resume normal operations on Monday. MARTA says it has fixed most of its online services and app issues caused by the outage.
Delta Air Lines apology for flight cancelations
On Sunday, Delta Air Lines apologized for the delays and announced additional reimbursements for frustrated customers.
"We’re sorry for this inconvenience – canceling a flight is always our last resort and isn’t taken lightly," the company said in a statement. "Delta takes seriously the trust placed in us to deliver the reliability and experiences customers have come to know and expect from us."
In a letter, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said that the technology issue happened on the airline's biggest travel weekend of the summer, which limited its ability to accommodate travelers.
"I want to apologize to every one of you who have been impacted by these events," Bastian wrote. "Delta is in the business of connecting the world, and we understand how difficult it can be when your travels are disrupted."
In addition to the travel waivers they began extending on Saturday, the company says it is prepared to reimburse some customers for the unexpected expenses they may have taken on due to the disruption in service.
United flight delays, cancelations
United Airlines has been facing similar challenges. CEO Scott Kirby released an open letter addressed to employees and customers on Monday reading:
"This weekend, the United team worked through the most widespread technology outage the world has ever experienced. It disrupted dozens of industries, including commercial aviation, which was perhaps the most severely impacted. Almost all our systems were hit and that meant more than 26,000 computers and devices had to be manually fixed by technicians, one at a time, at each of our contact centers and 365 airports around the world – all while running a 24/7 business during one of the busiest travel times of the year.
"Today, our operation is back to normal and for the last 24 hours, our systems, tools and schedules have been stable - our recovery was quick (given the circumstances) but not immediate, and I want to thank our employees and our customers for helping to get us through the past 36 hours especially.
"I was traveling with my family through Denver on Saturday and saw first-hand the tremendous hurdles our teams faced as they were trying to get our crews in position and support our customers and one another. I also felt the difficulty and challenges of customers who were just trying to get updates about their flight.
"But through it all, I also saw the empathy, patience, caring and kindness that our employees and our customers showed one another, even in the face of tremendous stress and uncertainty. And for that, I want to say thank you.
"We’re still closely watching summer weather which can be severe and unpredictable. We’re also doing some catch up to reunite our customers and their bags – we’ve even been using Fed-Ex to help expedite the process – but generally, I feel a lot better about the stability of our operation.
"I take a lot of pride in the culture of innovation we’ve built at United as well as the technological advancements that make travel easier for our employees and our customers. But when technology breaks down the way it did last Friday, I’m also reminded of how critical the human element of travel is to our success.
"At the end of the day, that’s what sets airlines apart and at United, our team showed the world what we mean when we say Good Leads The Way – from our digital technology teams, crew scheduling, the people in our contact centers, the Network Operations Center, and the folks who maintain our aircraft, to those at the airport who check you in, take care of your bags and help you board, and the people who fly our planes and deliver great service on board.
"Thank you again to our employees and our customers for their resilience and resolve in the face of an unprecedented disruption. I hope to see you on board this summer."