Aug 9, 2016, 1:04 pm
Last edit by: TheLifeOfA_NKCM
As most of us ...well, all of us, know, there was a power failure at ground ops in ATL on Monday (2016-08-08) at 2:39AM which lead to mass-cancellations and delays and rebookings spanning as far as next Sunday (2016-08-21) as of Aug 9. Passengers didn't hesitate to display their dissapointment, Twitter, ACS, and DL phone lines were ambushed with customers. In an effort to keep our fellow flyers informed on the incoming changes and information, this Wiki was formed.
You may all feel free to edit it as your leisure as we continue to watch this develop..
If you are currently at an airport right now, your information on the ongoing events and current situation there is equally as valuable. Thanks for your input.
If you have part of an article in your post, please cite it with a URL to it's
origin.
Airport & Support Situation..
NRT: Foam or Blowup Pad, Crackers, and water given out to customers for sleeping prior to hotel voucher last night
MSP: "Security Lines best since reconfiguration"
---
Note:
Some passengers are reporting long waiting queues on DL phone lines. If possible avoid contacting DL CSR by phone (DM and medallion lines are also expected to have a notably longer wait as well) and instead redirect att'n to Twitter which has been said to be notably quicker than other means of assistance, including Need Help Centers and Gate Agents. Fly Delta and Delta.com should also be permitting rebooking on to other flights at this time. If you are unable to take advantage of any of these methods, express add'l patience
Delta Related Updates:
---
August 11th, 2016 // 11:00AM ET - Flights OPs Return to Normal
Flight operations have returned to normal following Mondays outage, airline officials said at noon today. Delta started the day with roughly 25 mainline flights canceledsome due to bad weather in the Midwestand no additional cancellations are anticipated.
The airline is back on its feet, moving past this weeks disruption and operating normally, said Dave Holtz, S.V.P. - Operations and Customer Center. Running a reliable operation is something we pride ourselves on and frankly, that didnt happen this week. But our teams have worked tirelessly to bring back the dependable airline our customers have known us to be and have come to expect from us.
SLC.jpgWith the impact of the power loss is in the rearview mirror, the airline is carefully monitoring the development of a weather system that may hit the eastern third of the U.S. later today, with the possibility of air traffic control-related delays possible in the Northeast. No additional cancellations as a result of weather are expected, however.
The airline plans to fly more than 610,000 people today. By noon Thursday, nearly 2,200 flights had departed with more than 85 percent departing within 15 minutes of the scheduled departure time.
Even so, customers traveling today should check the status of their flight at delta.com or the Fly Delta App. Delta's travel waiver has been extended through Thursday.
Monday morning an uninterrupted power source switch experienced a small fire which resulted in a massive failure at Deltas Technology Command Center. This caused the power control module to malfunction, sending a surge to a transformer outside of Delta, resulting in the loss of power. The power was stabilized and power was restored quickly. But when this happened, critical systems and network equipment didnt switch over to backups. Around 300 of about 7,000 data center components were discovered to not have been configured appropriately to avail back-up power. In addition to restoring Deltas systems to normal operations, Delta teams this week have been working to ensure reliable redundancies of electrical power as well as network connectivity and applications are in place.
---
August 10th, 2016
Travel waiver impacted dates now extended to include August 11th
https://www.delta.com/content/www/en...em-outage.html
---
4:30PM ET // August 10th, 2016 - Delta has canceled 317 flights today, none in the last hour. Of 3,100 flights that have departed during the day, about 2/3 left within 30 minutes of their scheduled departure time.
Delta's travel waiver has been extended. The airline has extended its offer of compensation to customers significantly affected by lengthy delays or cancellations. Many customers have already been contacted by Delta.
Delta CEO Bastian: 'This isn't who we are'
---
2:30PM ET // August 10th, 2016 - Delta has canceled 311 flights today. About 2,540 flights have departed, 70 percent of those within 30 minutes of the scheduled departure time. Delta operates nearly 6,000 flights a day this time of year.
Delta's travel waiver has been extended. The airline has extended its offer of compensation to customers significantly affected by lengthy delays or cancellations. Many customers have already been contacted by Delta.
---
12:30 PM ET // August 10th, 2016 - Delta has added a few more cancellations, bringing the number today to 278. About 1,950 flights have departed, 75 percent of those within 30 minutes of scheduled departure time. Delta operates nearly 6,000 flights a day this time of year.
Delta also extended its offer of compensation to customers significantly affected by delays or lengthy cancellations. Many customers have already been contacted by Delta.
---
11:00AM EDT // August 10th, 2016 - Delta officials anticipate returning to a normal operation by afternoon Wednesday following an outage Monday that disrupted the flight schedule, though scattered thunderstorms expected in the eastern U.S. may slow the recovery.
By late morning, Delta had canceled 255 flights while 1,500 flights departed. About 80 percent of those flights departed within 30 minutes of their scheduled time.
Technology systems that allow airport customer service agents to process check-ins, conduct boarding and dispatch aircraft are functioning normally with the bulk of delays and cancellations coming as a result of flight crews displaced or running up against their maximum allowed duty period following the outage.
Were in the final hours of bouncing back from the disruption, said Bill Lentsch, Deltas Senior Vice President 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.
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.
Customers traveling today should check the status of their flight at delta.com or the Fly Delta App. Customers can rebook their flight via the website.
Delta's travel waiver has been extended and the airline continued to provide hotel vouchers to several thousand customers, including more than 2,300 Tuesday night in Atlanta. Delta extended its offer of compensation to customers significantly affected by delays or cancellations. Many customers have already been contacted by Delta.
---
7:00AM ET // August, 10th, 2016 - Delta officials anticipate returning to a normal operation by mid-to-late afternoon Wednesday following an outage Monday that disrupted the airlines flight schedule, though a chance of scattered thunderstorms expected in the eastern U.S. may have the potential to slow the recovery.
Teams across the airline continued work during the overnight hours to bring an end to the impact of Mondays outage that disrupted operations. Delta will start the Wednesday operation with a little over 150 system-wide cancellations after roughly 800 flights were canceled Tuesday.
Technology systems that allow airport customer service agents to process check-ins, conduct boarding and dispatch aircraft are functioning normally with the bulk of delays and cancellations coming as a result of flight crews displaced or running up against their maximum allowed duty period following the outage.
Were in the final hours of bouncing back from the disruption, said Bill Lentsch, Deltas Senior Vice President 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.
Delta CEO Bastian: 'This isn't who we are'
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.
Customers traveling today should check the status of their flight at delta.com or the Fly Delta App. Customers can rebook their flight via the website.
Delta's travel waiver has been extended and the airline continued to provide hotel vouchers to several thousand customers, including more than 2,300 Tuesday night in Atlanta. Through noon ET, Delta will extend its offer of compensation to customers significantly affected by delays or cancellations to cover Tuesday. Many customers have already been contacted by Delta agents.
Unaccompanied minors will again be allowed to travel on Delta Wednesday following a temporary stay during the height of the disruption.
---
August 9th, 2016 // 6:00 PM EST - Rebooking, Refunds, and Compensation: What Customers Need to Know:
Delta people worldwide are working around the clock to take care of customers affected by the disruption of airline operations. Below are updates to assist customers with questions regarding rebooking a flight, the current travel waiver and compensation Delta is offering affected customers:
Q: What does Delta's travel waiver offer customers?
If a customer's flight is cancelled or significantly delayed, he or she entitled to a refund. Even if the flight is not canceled, a one-time change to the ticket may be made without a fee. See full details here.
Q. Has Delta's travel waiver been extended?
Yes, to offer additional flexibility to customers who wish to make changes to their travel plans, Delta's travel waiver has been extended. For the latest information, see full details here.
Q. Is Delta offering travel vouchers to impacted customers?
Yes. Delta will provide $200 in travel vouchers to all customers who experienced a delay of greater than three hours or a cancelled flight as a result of the impact to operations systemwide. The vouchers are available for travel on all Delta and Delta Connection-operated flights.
Customers affected by the outage and who have provided their email address will be contacted via email and will receive their voucher in seven to 10 business days. Customers who have not been contacted can complete a Customer Care form on www.delta.com/wecare to receive their voucher. All travel must be booked by one year from the date the voucher was issued.
Q. Do the travel vouchers also apply to customers who are entitled to a refund?
Yes. Delta will provide $200 in travel vouchers to all customers who experienced a delay of greater than three hours or a cancelled flight as a result of the impact to operations systemwide.
---
August 9th, 2016 - Delta CEO Ed Bastian Releases Another Statement
Today Ed released another statement regarding the ongoing system reset and outage. Claiming "This isn't who we are". It can be found here.
---
Nonrev Travel Discouraged; Buddy Passes embargoed
Delta employees and family with nonrev flight privileges are discouraged at this time from making any personal travel until further notice. Additionally, during this time travelling via the use of a buddy pass will be embargoed. An end date to this travel suspension has not been decided upon and will be released in future updates.
---
Travel Waiver in effect:
All Delta flights
August 8-10, 2016
Ticket must be Reissued On or Before, and Rebooked Travel must begin no later than:
August 21, 2016
Note: This also has been extended to include hotel rooms and other accommodations for those customers who may need to take an add'l night stay due to a flight cancellation.
---
August 9th, 2016 // 11:00 PM EST -
Delta canceled about 775 flights Tuesday as the airline worked to establish normal operations after Mondays outage that disrupted the flight schedule. The outlook for Wednesdays operation is positive, Delta officials said, with about 90 cancellations expected at the beginning of the day leading to normal operations later.
Delta continues to recover from events earlier this week and expect to be back to normal operations by mid-day Wed, with some cancellations in the morning. -summarized; news.delta.com
---
August 9th, 2016 // 2:00 PM EST - Cause of Outage Identified:
"a critical power control module at our Technology Command Center malfunctioned, causing a surge to the transformer and a loss of power. The universal power was stabilized and power was restored quickly. But when this happened, critical systems and network equipment didn't switch over to backups. Other systems did. And now we're seeing instability in these systems."
Power was restored quickly however, due to some critical systems and network equipment didn't switch over to the backups leading to the outage; DL still in recovery. ACS systems are still catching up and have been reported to be running slow -summarized; news.delta.com
---
August 9th, 2016 // 12:30 PM EST - Delta has canceled about 530 flights today while more than 1,600 have departed as the airline works diligently to normalize operations after Monday's outage that disrupted the flight schedule. Leaders and employees continue to focus on promptly moving departures at the airline's Atlanta hub, the world's busiest.
Customers traveling today should check the status of their flight at delta.com or the Fly Delta App. Customers can rebook their flight via the website.
Delta's travel waiver has been extended to customers traveling on Aug. 9. Also, unaccompanied minors that have not yet begun travel will not be accepted until Wednesday. Those customers will be able to book without fee at a later date.
Delta offered compensation to customers significantly affected by delays or cancellations. -news.delta.com
---
August 9th, 2016 // 8:30 AM EST - What Customers Need to Know for Tuesday:
Delta is cancelling more than 300 flights Tuesday morning as it works to reset the operation and get crews, aircraft and other operational elements in place to take care of customers. The airline experienced a loss of power Monday morning that impacted operations systemwide.
Here are some things to know today:
1. Customers traveling Tuesday should check the status of their flight at delta.com or the Fly Delta App. Customers can rebook their flight via the website.
2. Delays continue. Customers heading to the airport should expect delays and cancellations. While inquiries are high and wait times are long, our customer service agents are doing everything they can to assist.
3. Delta's travel waiver has been extended to customers traveling on Tuesday.
4. Delta extended its offer of compensation to customers significantly affected by delays or cancellations to cover today.
5. Unaccompanied minors that have not yet begun travel will not be accepted until Wednesday. Those customers will be able to book without fee at a later date.-news.delta.com
You may all feel free to edit it as your leisure as we continue to watch this develop..
If you are currently at an airport right now, your information on the ongoing events and current situation there is equally as valuable. Thanks for your input.
If you have part of an article in your post, please cite it with a URL to it's
origin.
Airport & Support Situation..
NRT: Foam or Blowup Pad, Crackers, and water given out to customers for sleeping prior to hotel voucher last night
MSP: "Security Lines best since reconfiguration"
---
Note:
Some passengers are reporting long waiting queues on DL phone lines. If possible avoid contacting DL CSR by phone (DM and medallion lines are also expected to have a notably longer wait as well) and instead redirect att'n to Twitter which has been said to be notably quicker than other means of assistance, including Need Help Centers and Gate Agents. Fly Delta and Delta.com should also be permitting rebooking on to other flights at this time. If you are unable to take advantage of any of these methods, express add'l patience
Delta Related Updates:
---
August 11th, 2016 // 11:00AM ET - Flights OPs Return to Normal
Flight operations have returned to normal following Mondays outage, airline officials said at noon today. Delta started the day with roughly 25 mainline flights canceledsome due to bad weather in the Midwestand no additional cancellations are anticipated.
The airline is back on its feet, moving past this weeks disruption and operating normally, said Dave Holtz, S.V.P. - Operations and Customer Center. Running a reliable operation is something we pride ourselves on and frankly, that didnt happen this week. But our teams have worked tirelessly to bring back the dependable airline our customers have known us to be and have come to expect from us.
SLC.jpgWith the impact of the power loss is in the rearview mirror, the airline is carefully monitoring the development of a weather system that may hit the eastern third of the U.S. later today, with the possibility of air traffic control-related delays possible in the Northeast. No additional cancellations as a result of weather are expected, however.
The airline plans to fly more than 610,000 people today. By noon Thursday, nearly 2,200 flights had departed with more than 85 percent departing within 15 minutes of the scheduled departure time.
Even so, customers traveling today should check the status of their flight at delta.com or the Fly Delta App. Delta's travel waiver has been extended through Thursday.
Monday morning an uninterrupted power source switch experienced a small fire which resulted in a massive failure at Deltas Technology Command Center. This caused the power control module to malfunction, sending a surge to a transformer outside of Delta, resulting in the loss of power. The power was stabilized and power was restored quickly. But when this happened, critical systems and network equipment didnt switch over to backups. Around 300 of about 7,000 data center components were discovered to not have been configured appropriately to avail back-up power. In addition to restoring Deltas systems to normal operations, Delta teams this week have been working to ensure reliable redundancies of electrical power as well as network connectivity and applications are in place.
---
August 10th, 2016
Travel waiver impacted dates now extended to include August 11th
https://www.delta.com/content/www/en...em-outage.html
---
4:30PM ET // August 10th, 2016 - Delta has canceled 317 flights today, none in the last hour. Of 3,100 flights that have departed during the day, about 2/3 left within 30 minutes of their scheduled departure time.
Delta's travel waiver has been extended. The airline has extended its offer of compensation to customers significantly affected by lengthy delays or cancellations. Many customers have already been contacted by Delta.
Delta CEO Bastian: 'This isn't who we are'
---
2:30PM ET // August 10th, 2016 - Delta has canceled 311 flights today. About 2,540 flights have departed, 70 percent of those within 30 minutes of the scheduled departure time. Delta operates nearly 6,000 flights a day this time of year.
Delta's travel waiver has been extended. The airline has extended its offer of compensation to customers significantly affected by lengthy delays or cancellations. Many customers have already been contacted by Delta.
---
12:30 PM ET // August 10th, 2016 - Delta has added a few more cancellations, bringing the number today to 278. About 1,950 flights have departed, 75 percent of those within 30 minutes of scheduled departure time. Delta operates nearly 6,000 flights a day this time of year.
Delta also extended its offer of compensation to customers significantly affected by delays or lengthy cancellations. Many customers have already been contacted by Delta.
---
11:00AM EDT // August 10th, 2016 - Delta officials anticipate returning to a normal operation by afternoon Wednesday following an outage Monday that disrupted the flight schedule, though scattered thunderstorms expected in the eastern U.S. may slow the recovery.
By late morning, Delta had canceled 255 flights while 1,500 flights departed. About 80 percent of those flights departed within 30 minutes of their scheduled time.
Technology systems that allow airport customer service agents to process check-ins, conduct boarding and dispatch aircraft are functioning normally with the bulk of delays and cancellations coming as a result of flight crews displaced or running up against their maximum allowed duty period following the outage.
Were in the final hours of bouncing back from the disruption, said Bill Lentsch, Deltas Senior Vice President 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.
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.
Customers traveling today should check the status of their flight at delta.com or the Fly Delta App. Customers can rebook their flight via the website.
Delta's travel waiver has been extended and the airline continued to provide hotel vouchers to several thousand customers, including more than 2,300 Tuesday night in Atlanta. Delta extended its offer of compensation to customers significantly affected by delays or cancellations. Many customers have already been contacted by Delta.
---
7:00AM ET // August, 10th, 2016 - Delta officials anticipate returning to a normal operation by mid-to-late afternoon Wednesday following an outage Monday that disrupted the airlines flight schedule, though a chance of scattered thunderstorms expected in the eastern U.S. may have the potential to slow the recovery.
Teams across the airline continued work during the overnight hours to bring an end to the impact of Mondays outage that disrupted operations. Delta will start the Wednesday operation with a little over 150 system-wide cancellations after roughly 800 flights were canceled Tuesday.
Technology systems that allow airport customer service agents to process check-ins, conduct boarding and dispatch aircraft are functioning normally with the bulk of delays and cancellations coming as a result of flight crews displaced or running up against their maximum allowed duty period following the outage.
Were in the final hours of bouncing back from the disruption, said Bill Lentsch, Deltas Senior Vice President 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.
Delta CEO Bastian: 'This isn't who we are'
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.
Customers traveling today should check the status of their flight at delta.com or the Fly Delta App. Customers can rebook their flight via the website.
Delta's travel waiver has been extended and the airline continued to provide hotel vouchers to several thousand customers, including more than 2,300 Tuesday night in Atlanta. Through noon ET, Delta will extend its offer of compensation to customers significantly affected by delays or cancellations to cover Tuesday. Many customers have already been contacted by Delta agents.
Unaccompanied minors will again be allowed to travel on Delta Wednesday following a temporary stay during the height of the disruption.
---
August 9th, 2016 // 6:00 PM EST - Rebooking, Refunds, and Compensation: What Customers Need to Know:
Delta people worldwide are working around the clock to take care of customers affected by the disruption of airline operations. Below are updates to assist customers with questions regarding rebooking a flight, the current travel waiver and compensation Delta is offering affected customers:
Q: What does Delta's travel waiver offer customers?
If a customer's flight is cancelled or significantly delayed, he or she entitled to a refund. Even if the flight is not canceled, a one-time change to the ticket may be made without a fee. See full details here.
Q. Has Delta's travel waiver been extended?
Yes, to offer additional flexibility to customers who wish to make changes to their travel plans, Delta's travel waiver has been extended. For the latest information, see full details here.
Q. Is Delta offering travel vouchers to impacted customers?
Yes. Delta will provide $200 in travel vouchers to all customers who experienced a delay of greater than three hours or a cancelled flight as a result of the impact to operations systemwide. The vouchers are available for travel on all Delta and Delta Connection-operated flights.
Customers affected by the outage and who have provided their email address will be contacted via email and will receive their voucher in seven to 10 business days. Customers who have not been contacted can complete a Customer Care form on www.delta.com/wecare to receive their voucher. All travel must be booked by one year from the date the voucher was issued.
Q. Do the travel vouchers also apply to customers who are entitled to a refund?
Yes. Delta will provide $200 in travel vouchers to all customers who experienced a delay of greater than three hours or a cancelled flight as a result of the impact to operations systemwide.
---
August 9th, 2016 - Delta CEO Ed Bastian Releases Another Statement
Today Ed released another statement regarding the ongoing system reset and outage. Claiming "This isn't who we are". It can be found here.
---
Nonrev Travel Discouraged; Buddy Passes embargoed
Delta employees and family with nonrev flight privileges are discouraged at this time from making any personal travel until further notice. Additionally, during this time travelling via the use of a buddy pass will be embargoed. An end date to this travel suspension has not been decided upon and will be released in future updates.
---
Travel Waiver in effect:
All Delta flights
August 8-10, 2016
Ticket must be Reissued On or Before, and Rebooked Travel must begin no later than:
August 21, 2016
Note: This also has been extended to include hotel rooms and other accommodations for those customers who may need to take an add'l night stay due to a flight cancellation.
---
August 9th, 2016 // 11:00 PM EST -
Delta canceled about 775 flights Tuesday as the airline worked to establish normal operations after Mondays outage that disrupted the flight schedule. The outlook for Wednesdays operation is positive, Delta officials said, with about 90 cancellations expected at the beginning of the day leading to normal operations later.
Delta continues to recover from events earlier this week and expect to be back to normal operations by mid-day Wed, with some cancellations in the morning. -summarized; news.delta.com
---
August 9th, 2016 // 2:00 PM EST - Cause of Outage Identified:
"a critical power control module at our Technology Command Center malfunctioned, causing a surge to the transformer and a loss of power. The universal power was stabilized and power was restored quickly. But when this happened, critical systems and network equipment didn't switch over to backups. Other systems did. And now we're seeing instability in these systems."
Power was restored quickly however, due to some critical systems and network equipment didn't switch over to the backups leading to the outage; DL still in recovery. ACS systems are still catching up and have been reported to be running slow -summarized; news.delta.com
---
August 9th, 2016 // 12:30 PM EST - Delta has canceled about 530 flights today while more than 1,600 have departed as the airline works diligently to normalize operations after Monday's outage that disrupted the flight schedule. Leaders and employees continue to focus on promptly moving departures at the airline's Atlanta hub, the world's busiest.
Customers traveling today should check the status of their flight at delta.com or the Fly Delta App. Customers can rebook their flight via the website.
Delta's travel waiver has been extended to customers traveling on Aug. 9. Also, unaccompanied minors that have not yet begun travel will not be accepted until Wednesday. Those customers will be able to book without fee at a later date.
Delta offered compensation to customers significantly affected by delays or cancellations. -news.delta.com
---
August 9th, 2016 // 8:30 AM EST - What Customers Need to Know for Tuesday:
Delta is cancelling more than 300 flights Tuesday morning as it works to reset the operation and get crews, aircraft and other operational elements in place to take care of customers. The airline experienced a loss of power Monday morning that impacted operations systemwide.
Here are some things to know today:
1. Customers traveling Tuesday should check the status of their flight at delta.com or the Fly Delta App. Customers can rebook their flight via the website.
2. Delays continue. Customers heading to the airport should expect delays and cancellations. While inquiries are high and wait times are long, our customer service agents are doing everything they can to assist.
3. Delta's travel waiver has been extended to customers traveling on Tuesday.
4. Delta extended its offer of compensation to customers significantly affected by delays or cancellations to cover today.
5. Unaccompanied minors that have not yet begun travel will not be accepted until Wednesday. Those customers will be able to book without fee at a later date.-news.delta.com
Delta computers down
Aug 8, 2016 | 5:16 pm
#391
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: USA
Programs: 1K 1MM; Bonvoy Ambassador; Nat'l EE; Hertz PC; Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,599
Having multiple copies of the data replicated to multiple data centers isn't the problem. It's very easy to maintain the integrity of the data with replication, the problem is leveraging the data to make the system available.
If data center A burns to the ground it's an easy call to declare an disaster and begin recovering at data center B. If data center A is still there, there is just an issue with the ATS / switch gear, then it becomes a tougher decision. How long will it take to change IPs, DNS, start the application up at the DR site, confirm data consistency, test the application and make it available? Is that longer that it will take to just get the broken DC running?
Applications that just keep running in the event of a data center going offline are normally what would be considered cloud native, they create availability at the application layer not at the infrastructure layer. That works great for many types of business, but the types of transactions done by airlines and banking don't work well with that type of application architecture. So you need to build large monolithic applications due to the nature and volume of the business transaction. These applications can't create availability at the application layer, it must be provided by a very redundant infrastructure layer.
If data center A burns to the ground it's an easy call to declare an disaster and begin recovering at data center B. If data center A is still there, there is just an issue with the ATS / switch gear, then it becomes a tougher decision. How long will it take to change IPs, DNS, start the application up at the DR site, confirm data consistency, test the application and make it available? Is that longer that it will take to just get the broken DC running?
Applications that just keep running in the event of a data center going offline are normally what would be considered cloud native, they create availability at the application layer not at the infrastructure layer. That works great for many types of business, but the types of transactions done by airlines and banking don't work well with that type of application architecture. So you need to build large monolithic applications due to the nature and volume of the business transaction. These applications can't create availability at the application layer, it must be provided by a very redundant infrastructure layer.
Let's get this straight... cloud services like FB, Twitter, and instagram are way more transactional than airlines. Yet their outages are more rare and less impactful because they've architected or re-architected apps better ways.
Airlines (and other large orgs to some extent) have resisted this change because they don't think it's worth the investment in moving away from their legacy systems. It won't happen overnight, but it truly has to eventually. SABRE and travelport/worldpan already offer cloud versions of their apps that have a lot of these benefits. So it's not like it's impossible.
It's simply an issue of spending money.
Aug 8, 2016 | 5:32 pm
#392
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Minneapolis, MN (MSP)
Programs: DL DM, UA 1K MM, Subway Club Member
Posts: 1,993
It's likely more about the devil you know vs. the devil you don't. The backend software that banks, airlines, utilities (my industry) use have been vetted for decades (some for close to 50 yrs). The biggest issue with flipping to a new system is not the cost of the upgrade but the unknowns. It many cases it's lower risk to improve the existing system than start at v1.0.
Related to the incident. I agree with others that the true cause will take days. However, if GA Power's statement is accurate a switchgear failure does make sense and, in many environments, the switchgear is a hard to avoid single point of failure. Unless you have redundant wires going to the systems there has to be a point were you switch between primary and redundant systems. This is often done at the switchgear where you are switching the load between the grid and a back-up system(s). It's a fairly simple piece of equipment but the recovery plan is often having a spare to swap in. Based on the fact this was solved in hours and not weeks it could very well be that is exactly what they did. But, it could also be something entirely different.
Finally, having lived as a United flyer (GS) during the heat of their Intergration (that included several computer meltdowns) I am VERY impressed with how Delta has managed this. The only thing I got from UA during these sorts of incidents was a health serving of attitude (search UA's forum for "meltdown" for a sampling). They didn't give out food, didn't provide any real public statements, no CEO same-day video, no vouchers, nothing. My sense here is DL is really trying hard to get things back on track and keep people reasonably happy.
Related to the incident. I agree with others that the true cause will take days. However, if GA Power's statement is accurate a switchgear failure does make sense and, in many environments, the switchgear is a hard to avoid single point of failure. Unless you have redundant wires going to the systems there has to be a point were you switch between primary and redundant systems. This is often done at the switchgear where you are switching the load between the grid and a back-up system(s). It's a fairly simple piece of equipment but the recovery plan is often having a spare to swap in. Based on the fact this was solved in hours and not weeks it could very well be that is exactly what they did. But, it could also be something entirely different.
Finally, having lived as a United flyer (GS) during the heat of their Intergration (that included several computer meltdowns) I am VERY impressed with how Delta has managed this. The only thing I got from UA during these sorts of incidents was a health serving of attitude (search UA's forum for "meltdown" for a sampling). They didn't give out food, didn't provide any real public statements, no CEO same-day video, no vouchers, nothing. My sense here is DL is really trying hard to get things back on track and keep people reasonably happy.
Last edited by kenn0223; Aug 8, 2016 at 5:38 pm
Aug 8, 2016 | 5:39 pm
#393
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Houston
Programs: DL Platinum, UA Silver
Posts: 37
As an electrical engineer that works in critical facilities, I have to say that this is a big failure. A switchgear failure is not an excuse. There should be auto-transfer switches, UPS units, emergency generators, etc. that keep critical equipment online.
My guess - poor maintenance of electrical systems. Which is kinda surprising for someone as regulated as an airline, but then again, this is back-end stuff and not planes in the air. If your systems aren't tested, when something actually happens, you are not going to get the result you intended. My guess - primary power failure was followed by failure of a transfer switch, or batteries, or generator, etc.
My guess - poor maintenance of electrical systems. Which is kinda surprising for someone as regulated as an airline, but then again, this is back-end stuff and not planes in the air. If your systems aren't tested, when something actually happens, you are not going to get the result you intended. My guess - primary power failure was followed by failure of a transfer switch, or batteries, or generator, etc.
Aug 8, 2016 | 5:43 pm
#394
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Mostly living in the basement
Programs: Free Agent Level 2; MR LT(!)TE, HH SE, ALL SE, BAC Silver, DL MM, UA PS, 2V Fanboi, CBP GE
Posts: 5,359
Let's get this straight... cloud services like FB, Twitter, and instagram are way more transactional than airlines. Yet their outages are more rare and less impactful because they've architected or re-architected apps better ways.
Airlines (and other large orgs to some extent) have resisted this change because they don't think it's worth the investment in moving away from their legacy systems. It won't happen overnight, but it truly has to eventually. SABRE and travelport/worldpan already offer cloud versions of their apps that have a lot of these benefits. So it's not like it's impossible.
It's simply an issue of spending money.
Airlines (and other large orgs to some extent) have resisted this change because they don't think it's worth the investment in moving away from their legacy systems. It won't happen overnight, but it truly has to eventually. SABRE and travelport/worldpan already offer cloud versions of their apps that have a lot of these benefits. So it's not like it's impossible.
It's simply an issue of spending money.
The airlines actually sell products in a meaningful fashion. There are compliance obligations and contractual obligations (meaning tickets sold to passengers) that must be carefully maintained. That makes things much more complicated than the other examples, where generally speaking you are the product.
And frankly, if fb, twitter, or instagram go down it's not nearly as big of a deal, meaning those companies can generally be less risk averse. When an airline system goes down, people get stranded, cargo gets delayed, unaccompanied minors need to be taken care of, equipment gets out of position, and so on. The other companies generally just need to get the servers operational again and issue an apology.
I'm obviously simplifying things a bit, and I would agree that the airlines have probably underinvested/moved too slowly to update, but social media companies have very little in common with airlines when it comes to technical requirements.
Aug 8, 2016 | 5:49 pm
#395
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Northern NJ
Programs: DL Diamond, Hyatt Diamond, Starwood Plat, Ambassador, Hertz Five Star
Posts: 46
I've been at LAX most of the day. Incredibly poor service, borderline rude. Not a good show. My flight didn't show on monitors and was not updated on app, had to ask a diamond representative to call operations after I was told (twice) it departed even though I was monitoring the gate from the crown room and knew that was not the case.
Aug 8, 2016 | 5:53 pm
#396
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Huntsville, AL
Programs: DL DM 2.017 MM, Hilton Life Diamond, IHG Diamond, Avis CHM, Marriott Titanium (life gold), AA Gold
Posts: 8,052
I wonder when they will start posting delays to tomorrow's flights. I expect long after I am gone to bed.... 
David
David
Aug 8, 2016 | 5:54 pm
#397
Join Date: Sep 2015
Programs: HHonors Diamond, MileagePlus Silver, Executive National
Posts: 125
Any word on compensation yet my 1877 ended up cancelled thankfully on SW out of MDW now not bothering to call yet for reimbursement/voucher but curious experience so far?
Aug 8, 2016 | 6:01 pm
#398
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, MLife Gold, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Caesars Diamond, Amex Plat
Posts: 6,227
Question regarding a domestic DL delay after EU departure. We flew LHR-ATL this morning on VS (were ticketed via DL though). That flight was not delayed. Our ATL-MEM has been delayed and rebooked and delayed and rebooked again. We were scheduled to arrive at final destination at 6:24. We now will arrive at 9:40, assuming of course that the flight still takes off (we are on a new flight #). Are we eligible for (EC) 261/2004 compensation for 3+ hour delay?
In short: EU-USA flight no delay, USA-USA flight delay of 3+ hours to final destination.
In short: EU-USA flight no delay, USA-USA flight delay of 3+ hours to final destination.
Aug 8, 2016 | 6:21 pm
#400
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Long Beach, CA
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 5,292
...good luck with those distance-based miles. How are they with trans-oceanic business cabin redemption? Oh...wait. OK...how are they with Premium Economy redemption to Europe? Oh...yeah. What about coach to Hawaii? Hmmmm...some problems there. Basic economy to Australia....that's right their A320s can't take you there either.
I guess if your idea of award redemption is Cancun or the DR, should serve you well...so long as you will fly their version of coach.
I guess if your idea of award redemption is Cancun or the DR, should serve you well...so long as you will fly their version of coach.
Aug 8, 2016 | 6:22 pm
#401
Join Date: May 2015
Location: DCA
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP, DL PM, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 6,973
Question regarding a domestic DL delay after EU departure. We flew LHR-ATL this morning on VS (were ticketed via DL though). That flight was not delayed. Our ATL-MEM has been delayed and rebooked and delayed and rebooked again. We were scheduled to arrive at final destination at 6:24. We now will arrive at 9:40, assuming of course that the flight still takes off (we are on a new flight #). Are we eligible for (EC) 261/2004 compensation for 3+ hour delay?
In short: EU-USA flight no delay, USA-USA flight delay of 3+ hours to final destination.
In short: EU-USA flight no delay, USA-USA flight delay of 3+ hours to final destination.
Aug 8, 2016 | 6:22 pm
#402
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Long Beach, CA
Programs: DL DM
Posts: 5,292
Aug 8, 2016 | 6:27 pm
#403
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: Northwest, United
Posts: 3,351
...Thanks to these MERGERS and having just three major airlines, the pax get treated worse, the FF programs have been greatly devalued for the vast majority of pax, and if any one goes down then the rest of the system might not be able to help out that much - or at least there's not a good plan.
Aug 8, 2016 | 6:32 pm
#405
Join Date: Feb 2013
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, MLife Gold, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, Caesars Diamond, Amex Plat
Posts: 6,227