How often does this sort of thing happen?
While the Delta outage on Monday is massive, it’s not unprecedented. Other airlines have suffered computer errors or glitches that have caused chaos for customers. Just last month, Southwest Airlines suffered intermittent computer problems over several days that canceled hundreds of flights and caused delays. Last year, United Airlines had to delay its planes for almost two hours — affecting nearly 5,000 flights — because of a computer glitch.
Computers and automated systems have increased the efficiency and productivity of businesses in ways that were unimaginable a century, or even decades ago. But whether because of cyberattacks or just plain computer errors, the inter-connectivity built into almost all aspects of our lives means that one problem can quickly cascade into a catastrophe.
An outage of Delta Air Lines’ computer systems and operations caused massive delays and cancellations across the globe, including at all Ohio airports.
The airline’s computer system failed due to a power outage in Atlanta that occurred around 2:30 a.m. early Monday morning. The system failure caused the airline to issue a worldwide ground stop, which was not lifted until 8:40 a.m.
Limited departures were resumed shortly after, but customers still saw “significant” delays and cancellations. Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the company worked with an “all hands on deck” effort, as system issues were smoothed over throughout the day.
As of Monday afternoon, the airline had canceled 451 flights due to the power outage, and operated just 1,679 of its nearly 6,000 scheduled flights. The company will determine when they can resume regular flight schedules once computer systems are completely rebooted.
Passengers flying out of Dayton, Columbus and Cincinnati were affected by flight changes and cancellations. Customers sat in the entrance of the Dayton airport with their bags lining the seats of the waiting area.
Khris Lamping, a resident of Liberty Twp., was originally scheduled to fly with Delta to Grand Rapids, Mich.
“I always fly Delta and I’ve never had this issue before. This is very uncommon. I fly a lot and it happens every once and while and you just have to deal with it. It depends on how fast they get back up and running,” Lamping said.
Dayton airport officials would not comment on the specifics of how many Delta flights were impacted locally and referred all questions to the airline. They said they fielded phone calls from concerned customers about their flights.
“We have had some lines, but our workers have managed it,” said Linda Hughes, air service coordinator. “It never got out of hand.”
When American Airlines absorbed U.S. Airways in 2015, it quickly became the largest airline to service Dayton International Airport. Now, Delta Air Lines is the second largest airline to service the city’s airport, Hughes said. She encouraged passengers to contact Delta’s customer service hotline with questions regarding any delays or cancellations.
As some passengers waited to board alternate flights, they wondered how the delays would impact the rest of their travel plans. Monday mornings are a peak day for business travelers, according to airfare experts.
Scott Smith, a resident of Mason, drove up to Dayton around 4:30 a.m. to catch a 7 a.m. flight with his business partner. He said the delay will affect his business plans “dramatically.”
“Pretty much everything was shut down,” he said. “I tried to get some alternate flights through Delta but that didn’t work. But ultimately, my partner and I rebooked on Southwest and we’re just waiting for that next flight. It’s definitely a little bit of a drag today, but what are you going to do?”
Wes Dees, a resident of Centerville, said his flight was delayed but he didn’t mind going back home to wait until later in the day. Still, the situation left him feeling uneasy about the possibility of future snafu.
“I’m very surprised because if you look at the impact of that, it’s not just financial but look at it from the standpoint of just impacting daily lives,” he said. “If it can happen to Delta, how vulnerable are other companies?”
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