Dive Brief:
- Delta was the target of customers’ ire after it canceled thousands of flights this weekend following cascading computer failures last Friday. It is still struggling operationally as it works hard to minimize the impact on customers by offering travel vouchers, waivers and SkyMiles Program miles.
- Long lines and frustrated customers filled U.S. airports this weekend after a failed update at cybersecurity solutions provider CrowdStrike last Friday widely disrupted computers running Microsoft Windows. Though the third-party vendor was to blame for the travel disruptions, Delta customers have issued hundreds of complaints with the Department of Transportation, according to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
- “We have received reports of continued disruptions and received reports of continued disruptions and unacceptable customer service conditions at Delta Air Lines,” he said Sunday in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. “I have made clear to Delta that we will hold them to all applicable passenger protections.”
Dive Insight:
Prior to last week’s tech issues, Delta had an impressive record for operational excellence.
“Right before this disruption began, they had canceled 0.3% of flights this year, which is far beneath the average of other U.S. airlines,” Sean Cudahy, aviation reporter at The Points Guy, told CX Dive. “This is certainly a departure — no pun intended — from what Delta is generally known for.”
Delta has also built up goodwill with its consistent operations, but it is yet to be seen whether Delta’s weekend woes will be a blip on the radar or an instance that damages customer trust and loyalty.
“Time will tell if customers will be more forgiving, since this was a situation that was kind of outside Delta's control, caused by a third-party vendor outage,” Cudahy said. “But if you were stuck at an airport this weekend, I don't know how much you actually care about the reason for it, it's just an unfortunate situation that you are dealing with at that point.”
In a letter to customers Sunday, Delta CEO Ed Bastian apologized for the disruption and explained what went wrong.
Delta uses the Microsoft Windows operating system for a number of applications, including its crew tracking-related tool, which was unable to process the unprecedented number of changes triggered by the system shutdown, he said.
To make matters worse, the technology issue “occurred on the busiest travel weekend of the summer, with our booked loads exceeding 90%, limiting our reaccommodation capabilities,” Bastian said.
Customers appreciate transparency in such situations, Cudahy said.
“Most customers like to see the airline be upfront with communicating with them about the reason for disruptions when they do happen … and when it's going to be rectified,” he said.
