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Old Aug 9, 2016, 1:04 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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"
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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:
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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.
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August 10th, 2016
Travel waiver impacted dates now extended to include August 11th
https://www.delta.com/content/www/en...em-outage.html
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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'
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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. ​
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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 syste​ms 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
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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
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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
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Old Aug 9, 2016 | 11:42 am
  #601  
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Originally Posted by vincentharris
His wife, and him are 2 clowns, They made it 90% of the way getting to ATL. Rent a damn car, and drive the 5ish hours instead of waiting for food vouchers.
Just an FYI, a rental car may not have been possible. There is trip report from the Southwest debacle a few weeks ago where a couple tried to get a rental car and couldn't find a single company that was allowing a one way rental from their location (or anywhere close). It's very possible that people may have encountered similar situations yesterday even if they had tried for rental cars.
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Old Aug 9, 2016 | 11:43 am
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Originally Posted by TheLifeOfA_NKCM
So help me god. And to think I was going to even consider a connection through ATL. Nope.

If LAX is that bad, I can only imagine what poor Widgets is dealing with.
May have to call in the national gaurd to all delta hubs if this doesnt get fixed pretty soon. Not a good day to be a delta employee. That is for sure.
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Old Aug 9, 2016 | 11:43 am
  #603  
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Originally Posted by flyerCO
They don't see the vouchers. Those go straight into your SM account as e-credits. This isn't a refund of fare paid or voucher for cancelling a non-refundable fare, this is a customer service gesture. Company will have no way of knowing who was issued one or for how much.
My employer's policy is that any airline vouchers (same for hotels, car rentals, etc.) earned on business travel that's reimbursed by the employer are to be used for later business travel, regardless of the account that's funding the travel. This means that I never take VDBs for trips paid by my employer. We're pretty much on our honor to keep records and properly spend the vouchers for business travel as it would be extremely difficult to check this under normal circumstances.
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Old Aug 9, 2016 | 11:46 am
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Originally Posted by TheLifeOfA_NKCM
So help me god. And to think I was going to even consider a connection through ATL. Nope.

If LAX is that bad, I can only imagine what poor Widgets is dealing with.
I'm actually in pretty good shape. Extra staffing and minimal delays where I'm at but every flight is overbooked for days.
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Old Aug 9, 2016 | 11:46 am
  #605  
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
My employer's policy is that any airline vouchers (same for hotels, car rentals, etc.) earned on business travel that's reimbursed by the employer are to be used for later business travel, regardless of the account that's funding the travel. This means that I never take VDBs for trips paid by my employer. We're pretty much on our honor to keep records and properly spend the vouchers for business travel as it would be extremely difficult to check this under normal circumstances.
I had assumed that was our policy, but my direct boss told me not to worry about it for $200. To treat it like frequent flyer miles which we do get to keep. Surprised me, but I wasn't looking forward to figuring out how to use the voucher through our mandatory travel web site, or how to account for it on an expense report (as it draws directly from our corporate card for expenses).
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Old Aug 9, 2016 | 11:46 am
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
My employer's policy is that any airline vouchers (same for hotels, car rentals, etc.) earned on business travel that's reimbursed by the employer are to be used for later business travel, regardless of the account that's funding the travel. This means that I never take VDBs for trips paid by my employer. We're pretty much on our honor to keep records and properly spend the vouchers for business travel as it would be extremely difficult to check this under normal circumstances.
Big risk to take if you break company policy and someone finds out. If an employee did this who worked for me, i would think they were stealing from me in other ways as well and termination would be immediate.
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Old Aug 9, 2016 | 11:47 am
  #607  
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Originally Posted by dzflyer
May have to call in the national gaurd to all delta hubs if this doesnt get fixed pretty soon. Not a good day to be a delta employee. That is for sure.
Lmao.

CVG appears to be mostly back to normal. Regional operators weren't hit nearly as hard, and CVG is 50-seater central. Good day to connect through here I imagine.
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Old Aug 9, 2016 | 11:54 am
  #608  
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Originally Posted by wrp96
Just an FYI, a rental car may not have been possible. There is trip report from the Southwest debacle a few weeks ago where a couple tried to get a rental car and couldn't find a single company that was allowing a one way rental from their location (or anywhere close). It's very possible that people may have encountered similar situations yesterday even if they had tried for rental cars.
Do a round trip rental. Worst case you dump it off in Hilton Head, and pay a penalty after the fact. Enjoy your honeymoon and worry about the fees X rental car company charge you later.

Better to beg for forgiveness, then ask for permission in this case.

There are plenty of car rentals available around Atlanta right now.
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Old Aug 9, 2016 | 11:56 am
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Originally Posted by dzflyer
May have to call in the national gaurd to all delta hubs if this doesnt get fixed pretty soon. Not a good day to be a delta employee. That is for sure.
Yeah..

What's sad is that ACS, well just all CSRs were and still are as dumbstruck and informed as we are. It's kind of hard to know whats going on or what to do with something you have little control over. Thats ITs job, and they failed -bad.

In the end, there had to be some human error or missed factor overlooked. DL has generators, so the fact that they didn't cutover to it is shocking.

To all those in reservations and refunds my condolences are equally as high. The amount of enraged passengers who missed their cruises and events is insane and it's really sad how they take it out on the front line, forgetting how little control they have over the situation and what they can do. More-so, with how many people are dissatisfied with the $200 waivers. It's hard to help someone with stuff like this when there's only so little you yourself can do ..So it's very appreciated. Those who are stuck, I feel ya', but just remember you could be flying RyanAir two days in a row w/ a somehow excited Rene.
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Old Aug 9, 2016 | 11:59 am
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Originally Posted by vincentharris
Do a round trip rental. Worst case you dump it off in Hilton Head, and pay a penalty after the fact. Enjoy your honeymoon and worry about the fees X rental car company charge you later.

Better to beg for forgiveness, then ask for permission in this case.

There are plenty of car rentals available around Atlanta right now.
I guess today was a good time to get my free day.

It's a shame you can't transfer them.
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Old Aug 9, 2016 | 12:00 pm
  #611  
 
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
My employer's policy is that any airline vouchers (same for hotels, car rentals, etc.) earned on business travel that's reimbursed by the employer are to be used for later business travel, regardless of the account that's funding the travel. This means that I never take VDBs for trips paid by my employer. We're pretty much on our honor to keep records and properly spend the vouchers for business travel as it would be extremely difficult to check this under normal circumstances.
Could be worse. There's a major employer in the MSP area that confiscates all the DL miles on their tickets. It's part of their preferred airline agreement.
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Old Aug 9, 2016 | 12:00 pm
  #612  
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I've now heard DL is refunding all flights that were affected. Anyone know? Have a link? I was due out of ATL test day at 6. Now bumped around today for 8 pm departure. I'm actually not optimistic bc many others have been canceled today.
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Old Aug 9, 2016 | 12:01 pm
  #613  
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Originally Posted by dzflyer
Big risk to take if you break company policy and someone finds out. If an employee did this who worked for me, i would think they were stealing from me in other ways as well and termination would be immediate.
I once was anal about a silly little $5 voucher I got for doing OLCI when it was first introduced by PMNW. If I had known that using OLCI was going to automatically generate the voucher, I would have checked in with an agent at the airport.
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Old Aug 9, 2016 | 12:02 pm
  #614  
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Originally Posted by vincentharris
Honestly instead of a dumb 58 second video from the CEO, I would just like them to come out, and admit what really happened.

...
In fairness, they may be aware of WHAT happened, but not yet know WHY.
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Old Aug 9, 2016 | 12:03 pm
  #615  
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Originally Posted by motytrah
Could be worse. There's a major employer in the MSP area that confiscates all the DL miles on their tickets. It's part of their preferred airline agreement.
Target, right?
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