Apr 8, 2017, 1:28 pm
Last edit by: Renes Points
Great explanation about Crew Tracking & Scheduling and what went wrong: Post #590
[Feel free to edit / add to the timeline of DL events.]
First waver ATL only and only 5-7 and by 11th: https://web.archive.org/web/20170406...perations.html
Second waver "all" hubs and 5-9 and by 16th: https://web.archive.org/web/20170407...perations.html
April 6th COO Gil West apology and blames "unprecedented" ( 5 hour ) storm / weather: http://news.delta.com/chief-operatin...cedented-storm
April 7 & 8 Five things to know list: http://news.delta.com/5-things-custo...tions-saturday
April 7th In midst of service fail Delta devalues SkyMiles with partners: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...000-miles.html
April 8th updates on operations: http://news.delta.com/operational-re...ontinues-today
April 12th will be $DAL earnings live and should yield more info: http://ir.delta.com/news-and-events/...s/default.aspx
April 9, 11:40 PM (EDT): What appears to be the last cancellation of the meltdown was made for DL2682/10Apr BOS-LGA (717 aircraft)
April 11th - Delta begins to pay out compensation for impacted travelers: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta-air-lines-skymiles/1835970-early-april-operation-disruption-compensation.html
Other coverage of the event:
Pilots board relating to this epic fail: https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/d...-atl-irop.html
Factors compounding delays/cancellations:
Current delay statistics: Flightaware's live flight delay and cancellation statistics
News coverage:
BuzzFeedNews: Delta Has Canceled Thousands Of Flights And Everyone Is In Hell - No spring break is safe. (Posted on April 7, 2017, at 11:59 a.m.)
The Southampton Press: Cancelled Flight Dashes Disney Dream For Hampton Bays Marching Band (April 7, 2017 11:30 AM)
USA Today: Thousands of Delta flights canceled days after storms (Published 8:53 a.m. ET April 8, 2017)
CNN - Delta meltdown: Pilots are on hold, too (Updated 6:52 PM ET, Sat April 8, 2017)
The Wall Street Journal - Delta Struggles to Recover From Last Week’s Storms (April 9, 2017 12:23 p.m. ET)
AJC.com: Delta woes stretch into Sunday with more cancellations (11:57 a.m. Sunday, April 9, 2017)
AJC.com: Why one day of thunderstorms turned into a five-day Delta meltdown (12:01 p.m Sunday, April 9, 2017)
Detroit Free Press: Headaches continue for Delta fliers in Detroit (Published 2:26 p.m. ET April 9, 2017 Updated 5:54 p.m. ET April 9, 2017)
CNN - Delta tries to 'normalize' as flight cancellations continue (Updated 4:06 PM ET, Sun April 9, 2017)
New York Times: Storms, Though Over, Still Disrupt Delta Flights (APRIL 9, 2017)
NewsChannel5.com - Nashville Man's Body Stranded After Delta Flight Chaos (4:24 PM April 9, 2017)
CBS North Carolina: Raleigh parents upset after son’s body stranded during Delta flight chaos (April 9, 2017, 8:14 pm Updated: April 10, 2017, 5:35 am)
AJC.com: Delta reassures customers as delays continue through weekend (5:53 p.m Sunday, April 9, 2017)
AJC.com: Hundreds of stranded bags left at Hartsfield-Jackson in aftermath of Delta flight cancellations (9:29 a.m. Monday, April 10, 2017)
Bloomberg: Delta Delays Drag On, Testing Passengers' Patience (April 9, 2017, 4:10 PM EDT Updated On April 10, 2017, 10:13 AM EDT)
BuzzFeedNews: Delta Suffered "Failure of Crew Tracking Systems" During Cancelled Flight Fiasco - "I feel like we are lost in the system." (Originally posted on April 11, 2017, at 3:28 p.m. Updated on April 12, 2017, at 10:38 a.m. )
Reuters (posted on BusinessInsider): Delta's profit drops 36.3% (Apr. 12, 2017, 7:20 AM)
AJC.com - Accused child rapist caught at airport when flight is delayed (7:39 p.m Thursday, April 13, 2017)
[Feel free to edit / add to the timeline of DL events.]
First waver ATL only and only 5-7 and by 11th: https://web.archive.org/web/20170406...perations.html
Second waver "all" hubs and 5-9 and by 16th: https://web.archive.org/web/20170407...perations.html
April 6th COO Gil West apology and blames "unprecedented" ( 5 hour ) storm / weather: http://news.delta.com/chief-operatin...cedented-storm
April 7 & 8 Five things to know list: http://news.delta.com/5-things-custo...tions-saturday
April 7th In midst of service fail Delta devalues SkyMiles with partners: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...000-miles.html
April 8th updates on operations: http://news.delta.com/operational-re...ontinues-today
April 12th will be $DAL earnings live and should yield more info: http://ir.delta.com/news-and-events/...s/default.aspx
April 9, 11:40 PM (EDT): What appears to be the last cancellation of the meltdown was made for DL2682/10Apr BOS-LGA (717 aircraft)
April 11th - Delta begins to pay out compensation for impacted travelers: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta-air-lines-skymiles/1835970-early-april-operation-disruption-compensation.html
Other coverage of the event:
Pilots board relating to this epic fail: https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/d...-atl-irop.html
Factors compounding delays/cancellations:
- Weather in ATL April 5
- DL terminating interline with AA
- Delta's systems crashing/overloaded
- DL's crew scheduling system crashed [rumor?]
- Rumored short-term power outage in ATL A concourse caused by airport construction some time around Tuesday-Wednesday
Current delay statistics: Flightaware's live flight delay and cancellation statistics
News coverage:
BuzzFeedNews: Delta Has Canceled Thousands Of Flights And Everyone Is In Hell - No spring break is safe. (Posted on April 7, 2017, at 11:59 a.m.)
The Southampton Press: Cancelled Flight Dashes Disney Dream For Hampton Bays Marching Band (April 7, 2017 11:30 AM)
USA Today: Thousands of Delta flights canceled days after storms (Published 8:53 a.m. ET April 8, 2017)
CNN - Delta meltdown: Pilots are on hold, too (Updated 6:52 PM ET, Sat April 8, 2017)
The Wall Street Journal - Delta Struggles to Recover From Last Week’s Storms (April 9, 2017 12:23 p.m. ET)
AJC.com: Delta woes stretch into Sunday with more cancellations (11:57 a.m. Sunday, April 9, 2017)
AJC.com: Why one day of thunderstorms turned into a five-day Delta meltdown (12:01 p.m Sunday, April 9, 2017)
Detroit Free Press: Headaches continue for Delta fliers in Detroit (Published 2:26 p.m. ET April 9, 2017 Updated 5:54 p.m. ET April 9, 2017)
CNN - Delta tries to 'normalize' as flight cancellations continue (Updated 4:06 PM ET, Sun April 9, 2017)
New York Times: Storms, Though Over, Still Disrupt Delta Flights (APRIL 9, 2017)
NewsChannel5.com - Nashville Man's Body Stranded After Delta Flight Chaos (4:24 PM April 9, 2017)
CBS North Carolina: Raleigh parents upset after son’s body stranded during Delta flight chaos (April 9, 2017, 8:14 pm Updated: April 10, 2017, 5:35 am)
AJC.com: Delta reassures customers as delays continue through weekend (5:53 p.m Sunday, April 9, 2017)
AJC.com: Hundreds of stranded bags left at Hartsfield-Jackson in aftermath of Delta flight cancellations (9:29 a.m. Monday, April 10, 2017)
Bloomberg: Delta Delays Drag On, Testing Passengers' Patience (April 9, 2017, 4:10 PM EDT Updated On April 10, 2017, 10:13 AM EDT)
BuzzFeedNews: Delta Suffered "Failure of Crew Tracking Systems" During Cancelled Flight Fiasco - "I feel like we are lost in the system." (Originally posted on April 11, 2017, at 3:28 p.m. Updated on April 12, 2017, at 10:38 a.m. )
Reuters (posted on BusinessInsider): Delta's profit drops 36.3% (Apr. 12, 2017, 7:20 AM)
AJC.com - Accused child rapist caught at airport when flight is delayed (7:39 p.m Thursday, April 13, 2017)
April 5, 2017: Delta cancels 300 flights due to thunderstorm
Apr 11, 2017, 5:06 pm
#737
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SEA (the REAL Washington); occasionally in the other Washington (DCA area)
Programs: DL PM 1.57MM; AS MVPG 100K
Posts: 21,369
if they have half a whit of intelligence they will run in parallel for a couple weeks and then start a phased cutover
oh, wait ...
oh, wait ...
Apr 11, 2017, 6:41 pm
#738
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DL has been constructing a brand new state of the art (so I'm told) data center that is going online sometime this summer. It's also supposed to greatly improve crew tracking.
I honestly dont don't know any specifics and honestly if one of the engineers/it guys sat me down and went over it step by step I still would probably not understand it.
Not that this excuses anything but DL is investing in trying to make this not happen again.
I honestly dont don't know any specifics and honestly if one of the engineers/it guys sat me down and went over it step by step I still would probably not understand it.
Not that this excuses anything but DL is investing in trying to make this not happen again.
Is this new DC coming with an overhaul or at least optimization of the software?
Apr 11, 2017, 7:56 pm
#739
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Flying to a boat
Programs: DL DM/2MM, Bonvoy Titanium, Hertz PC
Posts: 823
They did a fine job up front- perhaps slightly slower food service than normal, but being a 9-hr daytime flight, really no rush to get to sleep anyway. Not sure how the folks in coach fared, though.
Apr 11, 2017, 8:34 pm
#740
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: ATL
Programs: DL DM, Hyatt LT DM, Wyndham DM, Hertz PC, HH Gold, SPG Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,038
Off-Topic but United is doing really well in the PR Image... Delta could be doing FAR worse it seems so maybe we should be pretty happy.
http://www.latimes.com/business/laza...412-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/business/laza...412-story.html
Apr 11, 2017, 8:43 pm
#741
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: MSP
Posts: 164
A new DC doesn't equal new, adequate software and programming. I can move my company's system from an m4.large AWS instance to a dedicated full rack at 350 E Cermak with Equinix, but that has no bearing on the software behind it. Poorly written software can be a bottleneck regardless of the amount of computational resources thrown at it.
Is this new DC coming with an overhaul or at least optimization of the software?
Is this new DC coming with an overhaul or at least optimization of the software?
Apr 12, 2017, 2:26 am
#742
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: LAS HNL
Programs: DL DM, 5.7 MM, UA 3.1 MM, MARRIOTT PLATINUM, AVIS FIRST, Amex Black Card
Posts: 4,479
In this case, I agree 100% what was said, by the retired NW-FA with what happened, she agrees with me (I guess) what happened. In the past, I have not agreed with her positions. I do agree she is 100% Union. That is her right to support the Union. It is also my right to not support the Union for DL Flight Attendants and Ground Staff. DL has treated all of the employees very well with the best profit sharing in the airline business, raises, etc. That I know is true, without a Union.
This screw-up at UA knocked DL out of the headlines.
This screw-up at UA knocked DL out of the headlines.
Last edited by RSSrsvp; Apr 12, 2017 at 6:00 am Reason: Removed quote from post deleted by the moderator
Apr 12, 2017, 3:41 am
#743
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 2,881
In this case, I agree 100% what was said, by the retired NW-FA with what happened, she agrees with me (I guess) what happened. In the past, I have not agreed with her positions. I do agree she is 100% Union. That is her right to support the Union. It is also my right to not support the Union for DL Flight Attendants and Ground Staff. DL has treated all of the employees very well with the best profit sharing in the airline business, raises, etc. That I know is true, without a Union.
This screw-up at UA knocked DL out of the headlines.
This screw-up at UA knocked DL out of the headlines.
Apr 12, 2017, 4:17 am
#744
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 1,589
On Monday my husband was waiting for his JFK-SLC flight, he would connect to OAK from SLC, all in paid first. The flight was delayed by two hours, he went to the gate and a rude agent told him very nastily to just deal with it, he would arrive eight hours late, she was not going to reaccomodate him and his luggage.
I went online, was almost immediately offered that he be re-accomodated on a direct flight to SFO in Delta One. He asked in the lounge and his bag was of course re-routed. His delay became three hours instead of eight.
Trust the employee and you will generally be worse off.
I went online, was almost immediately offered that he be re-accomodated on a direct flight to SFO in Delta One. He asked in the lounge and his bag was of course re-routed. His delay became three hours instead of eight.
Trust the employee and you will generally be worse off.
Apr 12, 2017, 6:15 am
#745
Join Date: May 2011
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Posts: 1,203
On Monday my husband was waiting for his JFK-SLC flight, he would connect to OAK from SLC, all in paid first. The flight was delayed by two hours, he went to the gate and a rude agent told him very nastily to just deal with it, he would arrive eight hours late, she was not going to reaccomodate him and his luggage.
I went online, was almost immediately offered that he be re-accomodated on a direct flight to SFO in Delta One. He asked in the lounge and his bag was of course re-routed. His delay became three hours instead of eight.
Trust the employee and you will generally be worse off.
I went online, was almost immediately offered that he be re-accomodated on a direct flight to SFO in Delta One. He asked in the lounge and his bag was of course re-routed. His delay became three hours instead of eight.
Trust the employee and you will generally be worse off.
A datapoint does not a trend make.
Apr 12, 2017, 7:09 am
#746
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,394
On Monday my husband was waiting for his JFK-SLC flight, he would connect to OAK from SLC, all in paid first. The flight was delayed by two hours, he went to the gate and a rude agent told him very nastily to just deal with it, he would arrive eight hours late, she was not going to reaccomodate him and his luggage.
I went online, was almost immediately offered that he be re-accomodated on a direct flight to SFO in Delta One. He asked in the lounge and his bag was of course re-routed. His delay became three hours instead of eight.
Trust the employee and you will generally be worse off.
I went online, was almost immediately offered that he be re-accomodated on a direct flight to SFO in Delta One. He asked in the lounge and his bag was of course re-routed. His delay became three hours instead of eight.
Trust the employee and you will generally be worse off.
This entire situation was very hard on passengers, but I think we forget about how hard it is on the frontline employees. Their job can be difficult on normal days...and this was anything but normal.
I'm not saying it excuses bad behavior, but it could explain it.
Apr 12, 2017, 8:58 am
#749
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL PM, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 8,414
C'mon Delta! How about "Delta currently estimates that our systems which were inadequate to deal with a thunderstorm will reduce its June quarter pre-tax income by $125 million."
Apr 12, 2017, 9:14 am
#750
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Delta Suffered "Failure Of Crew Tracking Systems" During Canceled Flight Fiasco
More from BuzzFeedNews -- an article that documents that the meltdown was not caused by the weather:
and
Link to the full story: BuzzFeedNews: Delta Suffered "Failure of Crew Tracking Systems" During Cancelled Flight Fiasco - "I feel like we are lost in the system." (Originally posted on April 11, 2017, at 3:28 p.m. Updated on April 12, 2017, at 10:38 a.m. )
As masses of Delta fliers were left stranded at airports across the country last week, a separate drama was unfolding behind the scenes.
With thousands of flights delayed and cancelled during the five-day crisis, crew members said the airline's computer system lost track of them amidst the chaos. That failure poured gas on the fire, delaying more flights as the airline scrambled to get crew and pilots to the airports where they were needed. It helped turn a storm in Delta's Atlanta hub on Wednesday into a multi-day fiasco that played out across the country.
With thousands of flights delayed and cancelled during the five-day crisis, crew members said the airline's computer system lost track of them amidst the chaos. That failure poured gas on the fire, delaying more flights as the airline scrambled to get crew and pilots to the airports where they were needed. It helped turn a storm in Delta's Atlanta hub on Wednesday into a multi-day fiasco that played out across the country.
The problem was acknowledged by Delta CEO Ed Bastian in an internal memo to sent to employees on Monday.
"Our recovery was hampered by a lack of available seats to accommodate customers as well as a failure of crew tracking systems to adequately position our people to do their jobs," he wrote in the memo, which was reviewed by BuzzFeed News.
"Our recovery was hampered by a lack of available seats to accommodate customers as well as a failure of crew tracking systems to adequately position our people to do their jobs," he wrote in the memo, which was reviewed by BuzzFeed News.
Last edited by RatherBeOnATrain; Apr 12, 2017 at 9:15 am Reason: clicked submit too soon!