TULSA, Okla. — While the airline industry recovers from the Crowdstrike incident, the feds are getting involved.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced his agency would investigate Delta’s handling of the debacle.
Rusty Gunn, of Sand Springs, flew to Atlanta on Delta with no problems. The flight back to Tulsa was in question, amid the global computer outage. Before Gunn went to bed late Friday night, he checked his Delta app.
“My flight still showed it was on time, and so I was at peace with that,” Gunn said, “Figuring they’d have it all together by the next morning.”
Gunn’s hopes were dashed, as his flight to Tulsa was canceled. As he meandered through a crowd of people at the Atlanta airport, he found a Delta agent among them. He asked about his options. The agent gave him some bad news.
“If you’re thinking you might get on a flight today, the chance is zero,” the agent said.
So Gunn weighed his options. He kept his rental car and drove it all the way to Tulsa. He arrived back to town around 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
“Hearing a lot of things that I’m very concerned about, including people being on hold for hours and hours trying to get a new flight,” Buttigieg said announcing the investigation.
Gunn can attest to that.
“The message I got told me my wait would be 1,145 minutes,” Gunn said.
That’s around 19 hours.
Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian, addressed the issues.
“Please know that Delta's entire team of the best professionals in the business have been working around the clock to safely get you where you need to go, and restore the reliable, on-time experience you've come to expect when you fly with us,” Bastian said in a statement.
Gunn finds himself in the sky about every two weeks. This wasn’t his first rodeo and he says kindness is key.
“Those agents … they’re doing their job, they’re doing their best, it certainly is not on them, so remembering that when you’re talking to people,” Gunn said.
Delta promised Gunn a full refund of his airfare. Passengers affected by the outage on a Delta flight, can request a refund here.
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