The U.S. Department of Transportation is investigating Delta Air Lines, following hundreds of flight disruptions due to the CrowdStrike IT outage.
Since Friday, when a Microsoft software glitch prompted airports to close and airlines to ground their planes, Delta has canceled more than 400 flights and delayed at least 300, according to FlightAware.
“We have made clear to Delta that they must take care of their passengers and honor their customer service commitments,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement Tuesday. “This is not just the right thing to do. It’s the law, and our department will leverage the full extent of our investigative and enforcement power to ensure the rights of Delta’s passengers are upheld.”
The investigation comes two years after Delta and nine other major U.S. airlines committed to improving customer service for people who experienced significant flight delays or cancelations within the airlines’ control.
When flights are canceled or significantly delayed, Delta committed to rebooking passengers on the same airline at no additional cost, providing passengers with meal cash or vouchers when flight cancellations resulted in a passenger waiting for three hours or more for a new flight and providing complimentary hotel accommodations for any passenger affected by an overnight cancelation.
It also agreed to provide complimentary ground transportation to and from a hotel for any passenger affected by an overnight cancelation.
“Delta is in receipt of the Department’s notice of investigation and is fully cooperating,” a Delta Air Lines spokesperson told Spectrum News in a statement. “We remain entirely focused on restoring our operation after cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike’s faulty Windows update rendered IT systems across the globe inoperable.
Cancelations on Tuesday were lower than previous days, with about 500 of the airlines’ 5,059 scheduled flights for the day canceled as of 3:30 p.m. ET. Delta said in a statement it has “people working 24/7 to restore operations, support customers and get crews to the right place at the right time.”
The airline said it has set up a Baggage Command Center in Atlanta, where the airline is seeing the largest number of displaced bags, to speed up the process of returning luggage to customers. It is "also leveraging all of our delivery partners to assist in making final mile delivery of bags needing to be returned to customers at their homes."
Delta said it has extended a travel waiver for all customers who booked travel from July 19-28 and is covering eligible expenses resulting from the recent flight disruption, including meal vouchers, hotel accommodations and ground transportation. It said it is reimbursing customers who have paid for hotels, meals and ground transportation because of the operational disruption. It is also issuing credits and refunds to customers for unflown portions of their trips.
According to the DOT, “airlines have an obligation to provide prompt refunds to a ticketed passenger, including those with non-refundable tickets, when the airline cancels or significantly changes a flight and the passenger chooses not to accept the alternative offered, regardless of the reason.”
The agency said airlines that fail to provide adequate customer service after they cancel or significantly change a flight is an “unfair and deceptive practice.”
Buttigieg's post says passengers should try to work with Delta to resolve any issues, but anyone who thinks the airline hasn't followed passenger protection requirements should file a comment or complaint through the Department of Transportation.