(RepublicanPress.org) – On Friday, July 19, an IT failure related to a routine software update struck major airlines, causing thousands of flight delays and cancellations worldwide. Cybersecurity company Crowdstrike said the incident wasn’t related to a cyberattack and quickly issued an update that automatically fixed some systems. Others had to be manually rebooted and patched — to varying degrees of success. Days later, Delta Air Lines continues to face the consequences of that massive cyber failure.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian issued a brief statement on Sunday, updating customers about the situation. He confirmed that the operational failure of the company’s cyber systems resulted in the cancellation of more than 3,500 Delta and Delta Connections flights.
Bastian said Delta’s IT teams were continuing to recover the company’s computer systems and restore normal flight operations. Nevertheless, he conceded that flight cancellations and delays still impacted customers despite those efforts.
The CEO advised that Delta was issuing free travel waivers to customers impacted by the cyber failure. Likewise, the company is offering other methods of transportation, hotel accommodations, and meal vouchers where available. Bastian also said the company was providing customers travel vouchers and Delta SkyMiles “as a gesture of apology.”
On Monday, Delta Air Line’s News Hub issued a statement advising that the company had “everyone around the company working around the clock” to restore normal operations in the wake of the Crowdstrike’s faulty security update. The carrier also announced it was extending travel waivers for all customers who booked air travel through July 23. The statement said impacted customers could cancel their travel plans and “receive an eCredit for the untraveled portion of [their] trip.”
A quick review of the latest figures from airline tracking company FlightAware confirms that Delta Air Lines tops the list of air carriers who continue to experience problems. According to FlightAware’s latest stats, Delta Air Lines canceled 402 flights and delayed an additional 266 for the 24 hours ending at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time. In all, 18% of the air carriers’ customers are continuing to face the impacts of the cyber failure.
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