Delta Air Lines Still Recovering From Power Outage

ATLANTA, GA — Delta Air Lines canceled 311 flights on Wednesday, as the Atlanta-based carrier continued to recover from Monday's power outage that resulted in thousands of cancelled flights and angry, inconvenienced travelers.

About 2,540 flights had departed as of 4 pm Wednesday, the company said, with 70 percent within 30 minutes of the scheduled departure time. Delta operates nearly 6,000 flights a day this time of year.

Earlier in the day, the company said it was expecting to resume a full, normal schedule by mid-to-late afternoon Wednesday.

“We’re in the final hours of bouncing back from the disruption,” said Bill Lentsch, Delta’s senior vice president of airport customer service and airline operations. “Delta employees have been working around the clock and are committed to bringing the airline back to full strength. We know this has been a rough couple of days for our customers and apologize to those who have experienced our less-than-stellar operation.”

See also:
Delta Flight Cancellations Continue as System Recovers After Outage
Delta Cancels More Than 650 Flights; CEO Apologizes

The system-wide outage that the company experienced Monday started with a power outage in Atlanta around 2:30 a.m. In a statement, Georgia Power said the company experienced an "equipment failure" that caused the outage.

On Monday, the company reported canceling around 1,000 flights. The outage and extensive cancellations forced Delta CEO Ed Bastian to apologize to customers.

Delta offers more than 15,000 flights daily and serves nearly 180 million customers every year, according to its website. Statistics cited by the BBC say the airline is the third largest in the world in terms of passengers.

Leaders and employees continue to focus on promptly moving departures at the airline's Atlanta hub, the world's busiest. Delta sent reservations personnel from the corporate headquarters in Atlanta to help customer service agents process customers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. A cadre of additional employees were also positioned throughout the Atlanta Airport to help customers get to their flights.

Delta's travel waiver has been extended and the airline continued to provide hotel vouchers to several thousand customers.

Image: Delta personnel assisting travelers at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Image courtesy Delta Air Lines.