Delta Airlines remained notoriously responsible for nearly 70% of flight cancellations nationwide on Tuesday, and SFist has shocking pictures and video from the epicenter of the airline-pocalypse, Delta’s hub at Atlanta airport.
We are five days into that aftermath of the global software meltdown of the Crowdstrike IT blunder, and airports nationwide are still reeling. But things aren't all that bad at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), where as of late Tuesday afternoon, only 1% of flights are currently canceled according to the website FlightAware.
Well, things aren't all that bad unless you’re flying Delta Airlines, the airline that remains an absolute mess and by far the US leader in terms of flight cancellations these last five days.
NBC Bay Area reports that on Tuesday, 455 of the total 679 US flight cancellations were Delta flights, so that airline represented a stunning 67% of canceled domestic flights today.
.@USDOT has opened an investigation into Delta Air Lines to ensure the airline is following the law and taking care of its passengers during continued widespread disruptions.
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) July 23, 2024
All airline passengers have the right to be treated fairly, and I will make sure that right is upheld.
As such, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced Tuesday he was launching an investigation into Delta, “to ensure the airline is following the law and taking care of its passengers during continued widespread disruptions.” Oh, and he’s even posted an online complaint form so you can complain to the feds if Delta or any other airline gave you the screws.
This SFist correspondent was actually onhand late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning for the flight-cancellation death march at the single most frazzled, stranded-passenger airport, Delta’s main hub in Atlanta, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
(Overheard at 11 pm at an airport bar: “My ex-boyfriend in Arizona has a private jet. Send him a picture of your tits and see if he’ll come pick us up!” And mind you, this woman was sitting with someone who appeared to be her mother.)
“No one should be stranded at an airport overnight or stuck on hold for hours waiting to talk to a customer service agent,” Buttigieg told the Associated Press Sunday after meeting with Delta CEO Ed Bastian.
Bastian put out his own statement Sunday, saying “For those whose flights have been impacted, we continue to offer meal vouchers, hotel accommodations and transportation where available.”
Hmmm, do these people look like they've been offered meal vouchers and hotel accommodations? This video was taken at 4:45 am Tuesday morning at Atlanta airport, and this line of sleeping, stranded passengers stretched for several hundred yards. I was at that airport from about 8:15 pm Monday night until 10:30 am Tuesday morning, and all Delta gave me was a bottle of water and a baggie of Cheez-Its. I spoke to many stranded Delta travelers, and there was sure no mention of any hotel or meal vouchers, just offers to be added to the Standby list for flights we had no hope of being seated on.
But the greatest impact to Delta passengers is lost luggage. The above image was taken at SFO’s Delta Baggage Services at 3:30 pm Tuesday afternoon, and this repesents about 20% of the lost luggage haul sitting there at the time.
“My bag was in LA last night, and I was here,” one frustrated Delta customer told SFist. “Tomorrow I’ll be in LA.”
Most people in our line did not get their luggage back. Instead we got a slip of paper, and a promise that our luggage would be delivered in “Two, three, four days.”
We can sympathize with Delta Airlines that all of this happened. After all, it’s not every day when half the computers in the world go kablooey. But it is not that day anymore, it is five days later, and even Delta’s cheapest budget competitors seemed to have ironed everything out with few remaining complications.
Unless you’re flying Delta, you are probably going to have a fine flying experience at SFO or any airport not named Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport this week. But if you are flying Delta, you will learn that real treasure of your vacation is the sleepless, exasperated, luggage-less friends you made along the way.
Images: Joe Kukura, SFist
