Transportation Department Opens Probe Into Delta Meltdown

Skift Take

The Transportation Department said ongoing flight disruptions and reports of customer service issues prompted it to investigate Delta as the carrier’s meltdown enters its fifth day.

Meghna Maharishi

The Department of Transportation announced Tuesday that it is launching an investigation into Delta Air Lines as the carrier struggles to recover from a meltdown that has led it to cancel thousands of flights.

Delta’s disruptions were spurred by a CrowdStrike outage that occurred last week. The outage caused airlines all over the world to cancel thousands of flights July 19. However, other carriers quickly recovered from the outage. 

Now, Delta enters its fifth day of disruptions, tallying 428 cancellations and 406 delays as of 9:30 a.m. ET, according to FlightAware. Since Friday, Delta has canceled around 4,000 flights. 

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the department would “leverage the full extent of our investigative and enforcement power to ensure the rights of Delta’s passengers are upheld.” 

The DOT said the Office of Aviation Consumer Protection would carry out the investigation due to the ongoing flight disruptions and reports of customer service issues. The department added that it is processing a high volume of consumer complaints against Delta.

Delta’s Meltdown

In a video message to employees on Monday, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said Buttigieg reminded him of the carrier’s commitments to customers, according to The Wall Street Journal. 

“I said, you do not need to remind me, because we do our very best, particularly in tough times taking care of our customers,” Bastian told employees. 

Some travelers impacted by the disruptions have complained about Delta’s customer service. On Friday, a New York Times reporter posted on X that a customer service agent told passengers that Delta would not provide meal vouchers or hotel accommodations for those with canceled flights. 

DOT rules require airlines to provide accommodations if a cancellation or delay is overnight. Airlines have to give meal vouchers to travelers whose flights have been delayed or canceled for at least three hours. 

The department opened an investigation into Southwest Airlines in 2022 after the carrier struggled to recover its operations due to a severe winter storm during the holiday travel season. Southwest had to pay a $140 million fine for the meltdown. 

Delta has long prided itself on its on-time performance and reliable operation. So far, Delta has not given a timeline for when it expects its operations to stabilize. The carrier did not immediately respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.