Delta Air Lines’ operational woes are continuing into Monday afternoon, with the carrier now finally admitting that “deeply complex” crew scheduling software impacted by the faulty CrowdStrike update has held it back from resuming normal operations.
“Deeply Complex” Crew Software Cited As Reason For Continuing Delta Air Lines Operational Meltdown
Earlier today I wrote about Delta’s operational meltdown entering its fourth day. Delays and cancellations continue, with 21% of flights canceled and 37% of flights delayed as of 4:00 pm ET. Within the last 90 minutes, Delta has issued an operational update that for the first time pinpoints its crew scheduling software as a key factor in the continued delays and cancellations:
Delta people worked Monday to get the airline’s complex global operation back on track after cybersecurity vendor CrowdStrike’s faulty Windows update rendered IT systems of companies across the globe inoperable.
“We’ve got everyone around the company working around the clock to get this operation where it needs to be,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a video message to employees on Monday. “Keep taking great care of our customers and each other in the coming days.”
Upward of half of Delta’s IT systems worldwide are Windows based. The CrowdStrike error required Delta’s IT teams to manually repair and reboot each of the affected systems, with additional time then needed for applications to synchronize and start communicating with each other.
Delta’s crews are fully staffed and ready to serve our customers, but one of Delta’s most critical systems – which ensures all flights have a full crew in the right place at the right time – is deeply complex and is requiring the most time and manual support to synchronize.
Across the operation, Delta teams are working tirelessly to care for customers impacted by delays and cancellations as the airline works to put flight crews and aircraft back in position following the disruption.
Look, I am confident Delta is doing the best it can and that if it was the fault of a third-party (CrowdStrike) for triggering the operational meltdown that continues today. No one is seriously denying it and I’m not sure Delta could have done it any differently. This time it was Delta software that got hit but next time it may be United or American. Some software glitches you simply cannot prepare for.
Could Delta have proactively canceled more flights to get the operation back in order and ruined fewer consumer travel plans? Maybe…it’s a bit too early to examine that.
But maybe this unmitigated disaster will humble Delta and lead to even better and stronger operations going forward. That’s the only benefit that can come from this staggering meltdown and if Delta can learn anything here, it might be that to always “show, don’t tell.” Efficient operations are borne out across airports each day, not in marketing slogans.
image: Delta
What the hell is wrong with you, Matthew, that you are incapable of providing an unbiased story? Is it all click-bait to get your rent paid?
Of course, creating even more controversial topics that create page clicks is the way to fix the problem that you should be able to fix.
Or maybe you really are paranoid that Gary routinely posts how far down the list your site is the ranking of page clicks for travel sites.
It isn’t hard to also look at the FAA’s ATC status page to see that DL at ATL is the only carrier requested gate hold being continually requested since the crowdstrike mess started.
Delta operates more mainline flights than any other US airline except WN and also operates the world’s largest hub at ATL with the highest percentage of mainline flights of any large US hub. ATL is more than 60% connections for DL.
DL simply cannot dump thousands of passengers per hour into ATL onto flights that risk cancellation.
There have been thunderstorms in the SE just as there have been thoughout Texas in May (documented by Cranky Flier)
UA operates a much smaller percentage of mainline flights than DL and yet still is cancelling a high percentage of international flights – which will have a large impact on their bottom line – just as this mess will for DL.
And the real question is why AA has managed to get back on line faster as well as how many passengers have just cancelled with DL or UA and flown WN whose decades old computers actually work.
Yes, DL is having a harder time because of their size and the concentration of mainline operations at ATL
When you focus on creating page clicks, there will be no light shed on why but let’s face it that your blog Live and Lets Fly is not about creating understanding anything despite the article name but about creating page clicks by the AA and UA employees that can’t stand to admit the real news which is that DL is still at the top of the industry and this event won’t change it.
I hope you get the help you so desperately need.
Trump Air will give Delta some fortitude and resilience .
If Delta cannot handle the pressure , then Trump Air will do the job for them .
988. Keep that number handy. You’re inching closer to needing it
You really are nucking futs.
I hope you don’t work for the post office.
Tim, you greatly undermine your credibility (despite, in all honesty, having immense knowledge and very good insights into airline operations and financial performance) when you go on here, OMAAT, VFTW, etc. and just shamelessly (viciously? Disrespectfully? Childishly? … more adjectives are needed for sure) attack the author and their sites. Every troll on these comment boards that accuses you of living in your mothers basement, having a mental health disorder, being a Delta shill, being a paid Delta corporate actor, having a greatly unhealthy obsession with a giant corporation (DL), hanging Delta memorabilia on the wall over your bed, sleeping in Delta-logo emblazoned sheets, being a single man who has never gotten laid … need I list more? … every troll who trolls you does so because YOU are the biggest, ugliest, smelliest troll of them all … quietly waiting under your little troll bridge for the next Delta critic to come along and swipe your beloved, faceless publicly-traded corporation, so that you may pounce with a level of vitriol that pails in comparison to the original (often intelligent and calmly conveyed) criticism.
Maybe you get off on it, and commenting on these message boards is the only thing you live for. I suspect you’re probably a bit on the spectrum, which is fine, but probably explains your lack of awareness regarding how your own behavior incites others to giddily poke and prod you until you erupt and explode. People hate you but like it when you get all riled up about something because it’s so weird and funny to watch, and all of us have an image of you in our mind, as some pathetic, lonely loser, who is obsessively in love with a nameless and faceless organization.
@Tim, thank you for your comment. I think I was rather gracious toward Delta in this story…I allow that these sorts of things could happen to any carrier and I would agree with you to the extent that this meltdown won’t eliminate Delta’s long-term profit advantage over even United.
I do value honesty and candor. I was happy to see Delta come out and finally admit that crew scheduling software is indeed what has made it difficult for Delta to recover. And my point above was that I’m not sure Delta should have or could have done things any differently. Maybe it could have canceled more flights proactively, but that’s just me being an armchair CEO.
The point is, and on this we agree, Delta will get back on track and this will pass, but I do hope Delta takes stock that even its enviable operations are one software glitch away from a meltdown. That’s a healthy attitude.
Finally, thanks for taking the time to comment here and elsewhere. People love to poke fun at you, but I quite appreciate your contributions (and on Seeking Alpha too) and appreciate your evangelism for Delta. I think you’re a decent guy and welcome the opportunity for continued discussion.
Don’t do it Tim!!!
There are people who love you and would be sad without you. You have a lot to live for.
Damn, talk about unhinged…and you can’t blame this on the people trolling Tim in the comments either, this is all on him.
Computers , tech , and AI are junk .
Similar recovery failure Southwest faced in Dec 2022 except Southwest seemed more willing to reimburse impacted passengers.
“affected” is correct … not “impacted” .
Delta stock down almost 4% today while United didn’t decline.
This is another stain on their reputation as more people see Delta’s marketing messages as vapor ware.
Such coincidence 7/22 was going to be the ‘big’ summer not ending marketing hype announcement.
At least remove “the ontime machine” from the flight status page.
I think Delta has done a great job of raising passenger expectations over the last few years with great marketing and product. But then an event like this will just destroy those expectations sadly.
Delta just needs to make the promises it can keep.
At this point blaming the software update is like the Texas power companies a couple years back blaming the cold weather for the fact that the whole grid collapsed for better part of a week
Maybe the IT staff should have been due big raises instead..
So I guess we are learning that every airline is vulnerable in different ways. Sounds like life in general.
This.
Tim,
You can’t admit it, but the truth is that Delta failed. Bigly.
Gratifying to see this brand tarnished a bit, given all the hubris its management creates around it. Is it a profitable company? Yes. Is it a premium airline? Far from it. Delta is a trunk carrier just like the rest of its US peers. There is nothing “premium” about changing planes in Atlanta, or its unpleasant JFK terminal.
To me, the key is what DL is going to do after it gets out of “crisis” mode. Will they keep doing only what they’re legally obligated to do, or will they actually be a premium airline and go above and beyond. I personally lost $1,100 in prepaid deposits. My trip insurance will only cover a fraction of it because it considered what happened a “trip interruption”.
I don’t expect DL to make me whole…it’s not going to happen. A travel voucher of $100 – $200 would be nice. At least for me, it will show DL is a premium airline. However, but if DL just says “sorry, oh well, legally we don’t have to cover that” and does nothing, then it’s not a premium airline, it’s like every other airline. We’ll see.
“Show, don’t tell”. Maybe you could impress that upon Scott Kirby.
…”deeply complex crew software….”
You would think these airlines (and I’m sure all of them have similar “problematic” software) would have anticipated, in this 21st century, that all (crew and operational) systems linked should be top-notch and working together at all times. DL, UA, SWA, etc……. they’re still living in the 70’s, 80’s with this stuff ?? I feel no sympathy for them, … it’s inexcusable. Same with IRS, Social Security, etc., they all can’t get their act together when things go wrong. Nothing is perfect but c’mon, when millions of people are affected for hours, days, weeks, heads should roll.