Feds launch investigation into Delta after flight fiasco

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has launched an investigation into Delta Air Lines following its recent mass cancellations and flight delays.

“The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation Consumer Protection is investigating Delta Air Lines following continued widespread flight disruptions and reports of concerning customer service failures,” the DOT said in a statement Tuesday.

“This process will continue to evolve as DOT learns more and processes the large volume of consumer complaints we have already received against Delta.”

On Monday, Delta canceled or delayed more than 2,900 flights, according to flight tracking FlightAware website. Late last week, a global internet outage hit airlines and businesses around the world, with several airlines noting that they were experiencing technological issues at the time.

“.@USDOT has opened an investigation into Delta Air Lines to ensure the airline is following the law and taking care of its passengers during widespread and ongoing outages,” Buttigieg said in a post on social platform X Tuesday.

“All airline passengers have the right to be treated fairly and I will ensure that this right is respected,” Buttigieg continued.

While many airlines were disrupted by internet outages caused by a Crowdstrike update gone wrong, Delta itself still had substantial cancellations as of Monday. It canceled more than 1,300 flights on Sunday and about 1,200 flights on Friday and Saturday.

“Like many companies around the world, Delta was impacted Friday morning by a technology issue from a third-party vendor, which caused us to ground the flight while our systems were offline,” said Delta CEO, Ed Bastian. said in a Sunday statement for customers.

“The pause in our operations has resulted in the cancellation of more than 3,500 Delta and Delta Connection flights through Saturday,” Bastian continued. “Cancellations continue on Sunday as Delta teams work to recover our systems and restore our operation. Canceling a flight is always a last resort and something we don’t take lightly.”

Buttigieg said in a post on X on Sunday that DOT “has received reports of ongoing outages and unacceptable customer service conditions at Delta Air Lines, including hundreds of complaints filed with @USDOT.”

“I have made it clear to Delta that we will hold them to all applicable passenger protections,” he continued.

In an emailed statement, Delta said it “received the Department’s notice of investigation and is cooperating fully.

“We remain fully focused on restoring our operation after cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike’s faulty Windows update was rendered. [information technology] systems around the world are down,” the airline continued. “Across our operation, Delta teams are working tirelessly to care for and repair customers impacted by delays and cancellations, as we work to restore the reliable, on-time service they they offered us. expect from Delta.”

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story