Delta cancels 600 flights in wake of cyber outage

Atlanta: Delta Air Lines cancelled more than 600 flights on Monday, as the US air carrier continued to struggle to restore operations after last week’s global cyber outage, even as other airlines were recovering from the incident.

About 16 per cent of Delta’s flights had been canceled as of 7am EST, according to data from FlightAware, out of roughly 1,100 flights to or from the United States overall, the web site said.

The issue has stranded thousands of Delta travelers across the United States, with some having to rent cars to drive hundreds of miles while others could have to wait days for new flights or cancel trips altogether.

The Atlanta-based airline is battling operational issues after the outage hit its crew tracking system. Delta’s total number of canceled flights since Friday has exceeded 5,000.

A software update by global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike triggered system problems for Microsoft customers, including many airlines, on Friday. Although other US airlines have largely recovered, Delta has struggled to return to normal. American Airlines had called off 1pc of its flights on Monday, while United Airlines canceled less than 1pc. Delta shares were little changed in premarket trading on Monday.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2024