Delta Air Lines may be starting to turn a corner with their internal operations finally, after melting down on Friday, cancelling thousands of flights (nearly 3 times as many as in all of 2019 and more cancellations than in all of 2018 and 2019 combined), and displacing hundreds of thousands of passengers.
Things are going to be very rough today. Customers aren’t going to experience the improvements yet. While the numbers will get much worse than this, so far ‘only’ 12% of Delta flights have been cancelled today and another 11% delayed. (In contrast, neither American nor Southwest have cancelled even 1% of flights.)
Delta still hasn’t recovered from the CrowdStrike mess. ATL is filled with bags. My flight to NYC was cancelled at the last minute & Delta booked me on a flight that took off an hour before the cancellation. The app just say “oops, we’re sorry.” In line to rebook with 100 others pic.twitter.com/AZUFkruJ00
— Brendan Keefe – Atlanta News First (@BrendanKeefe) July 23, 2024
The biggest systems problem has been the airline’s inability to keep track of its crew and assign them to flights.
- A huge backlog of data just could be processed
- They were running multiple parallel systems to catch up, but those then needed to be synced
- Customers have even heard announcements in terminals asking for anyone that can fly planes to raise their hand
The consequences of this have been planes out of position and crews out of position, and the airline not sure where all the pieces are. That means employees timing out rather than being able to fly, and planes not receiving their scheduled overnight maintenance. There’s a backlog of people and machines, not just computer data, that will need to catch up once systems are fully restored.
However it does appear that systems are coming back. Aviation watchdog JonNYC reports real progress on crew tracking, though it remains a huge challenge.
DL: Crew Tracking queue is below 1,000 for first time since Friday.
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) July 23, 2024
Meanwhile, though Delta CEO Ed Bastian says he told off Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg that Delta doesn’t need reminding about its obligations to customers, there are plenty of reports of passengers sleeping in the airport after being told that no hotel or meal vouchers would be made available. Southwest was much more generous with customers when it melted down a year and a half ago. And the DOT has opened an investigation. Delta can expect pressure to do more for passengers, along with fines (for which they’ll receive credit for the value of reimbursements provided).
.@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.
All airline passengers have the right to be treated fairly, and I will make sure that right is upheld.
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) July 23, 2024
The biggest problem is that Delta hasn’t admitted the problem and taken public ownership of it. They screwed up – big time – and they’re still blaming forces outside their control. Delta is an airline, and airlines fail. They have antiquated technology and even laid off IT staffers last fall. They refuse to deviate from their superiority narrative in the face of evidence to the contrary about this last week where they’ve underperformed everybody else in the world.
Delta has long been the least generous airline to me when there are operational service failures. Broken in-flight entertainment on long-haul DL-operated flights? “Go talk to AirFrance/KLM, you were on a code-share.” And that is even as the flights were being credited to the DL account. And Delta kept flying those planes with non-functioning IFE screens in the same seats for long enough that I encountered it repeatedly on the same planes for the same seats even months later. Not the sign of an operation that cares about its customers or has any real contrition when it fails customers.
People moan here a lot about unionized employees at airlines. But the real problem is the senior airline management doing whatever it takes to boost the value of the compensation packages of the senior management and to give shareholders an opportunity to cash out at a premium sooner than later regardless of the long-term damage from this mentality of “go cheap now, give me profits now, as I won’t be around later when it comes time to pay the piper for the company having gone cheap”.
Jim with the premium win!
Jim,
I didn’t bother to read more than the first line.
You are free to expect to stand in line at an airline – regardless of which one- or any other merchant every time you think something goes wrong.
Others are capable of living through the irregularities of life and dealing with things later.
And, yes, people expect to get to their destination on time – regardless of whether it is across town or across the globe.
But the world just doesn’t work that way.
I have never excused DL’s operational performance this week.
I have STRONGLY pushed back at those that are incapable of thinking more than “DL hasn’t spent on IT” because you see the same GUI for the app YOU USE so think nothing has changed behind the scenes.
and there are PLENTY of people that have used this DL event to get revenge including at me because I accurately have noted that DL is the most profitable airline in the US, has the highest revenue, and the highest market cap.
United is gunning for DL but the only reason their profits this year COULD surpass DL is because UA refuses to give its FAs a new contract – which will cost hundreds of millions of dollars in extra costs on top of more than a half billion in retro costs.
I said early on during this event and think it is most plausible that DL’s IT is actually far more sophisticated that other airlines – but that it is held together with such fragility because so much of it is DL-specific. Once again, DL is the only US airline and one of the few in the world that operates its own in-house reservations system.
They made the decision to operate their own res system – perhaps wrongly – and said that it was impossible to throw it all away and start over – and they probably are right.
You can’t just build an all-new IT system for one of the world’s largest airlines while keeping the airline running.
The only incongruence is in your mind.
I call balls and strikes with everything and everyone. In a world where alot of people cannot stand anyone speaking the truth, it is clear that I don’t see my role on the internet as a peacemaker but rather a truth teller.
@ Gary — Let’s hope that Delta receives the largest fine in airline history, and let’s hope Bastian, and most importantly, Hauenstein, are fired. They are total scum for refusing to paying for tickets on other ailrines and for compensating customers in SkyMiles. Hauenstein is busy right now calculating the new SkyMiles devaluation so they can recoup every penny of the customer “compensation.” Their greed knows no end.
Does the Delta Airline company really think that they are gonna fool any customers at all with there lies & deceit on what they have done, I think not. Travelling customers aren’t that dumb and they will see right through Delta’s lies
Because there is so little “extra” capacity across the industry in the home market for Delta, Delta won’t lose enough business over the longer term because of this situation either. That’s all the more reason why the US Government should not only have a hugely punitive fine but also make it easier for consumers to successfully sue the airlines when harmed by an airline’s operational failures.
Haggard Celine
You posted exactly what I said. Small claims court or you’re out of luck. SCOTUS a decade ago interpreted the Airline Deregulation Act (1978) prevented the airlines from being sued for common consumer violations. That pretty much leaves you at the mercy of Pothole Pete or small claims court. Now yell upstairs and tell mom to fix you another Hot Pocket.
@ Tim Dunn — “I didn’t bother to read more than the first line.” — then you proceeded to write 373 additional words of off-topic, meandering comment barf that proves that you did, in fact, read more than the first line. Tough to have an intelligent conversation with you if you can’t remember what you said in the preceding paragraph.
When you say “I have never excused DL’s operational performance this week” — any chance you remember typing “You and a whole lot of people want to hang Delta for one event, but you excuse months and months of inferior operations at American and United,” “5000 cancellations is not insignificant but it is a rounding error” or “outside of this weekend, DL’s operation runs far better than its competitors” yesterday?
@ Jim — Nailed it. 🙂
“…it is clear that I don’t see my role on the internet as a peacemaker but rather a truth teller.”
Just, wow. Confirmation bias much?
H2oman has the crawfishing tactic down pat – when in doubt keep doubling down but in a circle
dunn, on the other hand, should be reported to the fbi for mental instability
if he has weapons, he is going postal some day
gary, you have access to the ip addresses for all visitors
we know he’s too stupid to use a vpn, so report him to your host vendor
you might save a life
@Hagbard Celine
Thank you! I think I have a new user name. Although where I’m from they are mud bugs.
PSA has cancelled a higher percentage of flights than DL today.
AA has issued a ground stop for its own flights to CLT.
AA’s on time is as bad as DL’s and deteriorating by the minute.
But this is just AA’s normal operation so it’s ok and no one notices
And of the course AA customers are never mistreated
@Robin- “Does the Delta Airline company really think that they are gonna fool any customers at all with there lies & deceit on what they have done, I think not. Travelling customers aren’t that dumb and they will see right through Delta’s lies”
What a coincidence. Many could say the same thing about the demoncrats.
@ Tim Dunn …
1. “PSA has cancelled a higher percentage of flights than DL today.” — you just compared Delta to a regional. You’ve lowered expectations so low that you’re satisfied if Delta’s performance is better than a regional? Of all cancellations worldwide today, more than 25% are Delta’s.
2. “And of the course AA customers are never mistreated” — who said that, Tim? Name literally one person, in the thousands of comment threads over the past few days, who has said that. You tell us that you like to stick to facts. So back that one up. #TimDunnAlternativeFacts
3. “AA’s on time is as bad as DL’s and deteriorating by the minute.” — Delta has 7X the cancellations and more delayed flights today.
4. “But this is just AA’s normal operation so it’s ok and no one notices” — It looks like there is major weather in the south. Throwing shade at AA because of a thunderstorm to distract from the fact that Delta’s IT is still messed up after 5 days is a new low, even for you.
So the self-described caller of balls and strikes just suggested that American’s weather-related problems are on par with Delta’s failed IT, and implied that a regional is a good benchmark for the Most Premium Airline. Hard for me to square that with your statement that you see yourself as a truth teller. Easy for me to square that with the #TimDunnDoubleStandard.
The Delta haters are predictable.
In the meantime, the US DOT is launching an investigation into Tim Dunn:
“We have made clear to Mr. Dunn that he must pay closer attention to the facts,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in announcing the investigation Tuesday, which “will continue to evolve,” the department said.” “Mr. Dunn, by his comments, has been complicit in the Delta meltdown, contributing to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of passengers over the past five days.”
Of course, Brick.
Everyone wants the person at the top to fall.
The people at the bottom can’t stand to admit that they bet on the wrong horse.
JIm,
DL in ATL works well several hundred days per year.
It struggles for less than 30 days.
AA at CLT and DFW are regularly in worse operational messes than even DL in ATL.
I have been through DL hubs other than ATL this week and they are working pretty well.
If you want to get to the root issue for operational issues, then get to the hubs themselves.
ATL is DL’s Achilles heel but it is also its greatest asset and what every other airline wishes they had.
AA has built 2 superhubs in facilities that were never decided to be that large as hubs.
UA has the most balanced hubs but they pushed EWR too hard, found its absolute limits, and DL is 18% larger than UA in NYC because of it.
DEN used to be a pretty reliable airport but between UA and WN, DEN’s on-time has fallen dramatically.
The only bright spot for UA is ORD thanks to the runway redesign years ago. But ORD is now set to become the most expensive operate in the US for AA and UA. AA wisely is keeping a small presence; UA will pay the price to hub in a city and state that is increasingly failing economically.
No airline has it all but it is precisely because DL has lived through previous operational meltdowns that they will return to the top once again.
DL’s operation looks the best it has in the past 4 days. Their recovery is well underway.
@ Tim Dunn – It’s funny that a week ago you and I were going back and forth because you said that AA was “irrelevant” in Chicago because they had shed market share. Today you say they are “wise” for having a small presence there. Not sure I agree that 23% of ORD market share is a “small” presence. Anyways, you said you’re the “truth teller” so which is it — is AA “irrelevant” or “wise”?
I guess the 12-paragraph lecture on hubs is a good distraction from your contradictory statements, the fact that you are benchmarking a global premium airline against a regional, and the fact that you haven’t backed up your comment about AA with any evidence. You know, since you call balls and strikes.
New rule: Airline CEO receives a pie to the face for every cancelled flight. This must be broadcast publicly online and in airports. Oh, they also get a pay cut as well. Delays > 3 hours within airline control result in the same punishment.
Jim
a shrinking market share at ORD for AA and irrelevant is not contradictory to the fact that AA was wise to have the smallest operation necessary to allow UA to foot most of the bill for the massive ORD redevelopment plan.
AA’s hubs at DFW and CLT are far larger than UA’s hubs so AA does not have to rely on connections through ORD as UA does.
AA’s northern tier Midwest strength is far lower than DL, the leader in the region, or UA and also lower than WN, but it makes no economic sense for AA to share size in the Midwest and esp. ORD when doing so will be so costly.
Sorry such clear business concepts go over your head
Where is Delta’s board of directors? Why are they allowing corporate management, who work for them and the shareholders, to knowingly lie to customers? And at what point is a publicly traded company lying to customers and, ultimately, shareholders in public statements now a serious issue for financial regulators?
@ Tim Dunn, I just get whiplash keeping your positions straight. You on 7/15/24: “real everyday investors recognize that AAL is a train wreck and for good reasons.” You this morning: “AA was wise to have the smallest operation necessary to allow UA to foot most of the bill.”
And one more reminder, as you like to stick to facts, call balls and strikes, and generally be a truth teller. You told me that I was paid for by American. Prove it. I’ve been waiting for a week.
Hagbard Celine: “tim, please explain why operating systems that allow unsupervised kernel-mode updates are superior to bespoke alternatives like unix and scada”
Hagbard Celine, maybe I am not understanding your use of SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition). SCADA at the lowest level can implemented on the bare metal. The higher levels of SCADA are usually implemented with underlying hypervisors or operating systems. Microsoft Windows can be set to allow unsupervised kernel updates but I believe that UNIX systems (UNIX variants, Linux variants, BSD variants, etc.) can do the same thing if they are programed to allow them. Do you consider SCADA to be the equivalent of an operating system?