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 8, 2017, 1:05 pm
#436
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA
Programs: Delta DM / 1M, IHG Plat, HH Gold, Marriott Titanium, Hertz PC, Emerald Club Exec
Posts: 500
I had no idea that I would still be in that airport almost 24 hours later.
Apr 8, 2017, 1:37 pm
#437
Join Date: May 2014
Location: DMV
Posts: 2,092
I think it's simply that their ops are too fine tuned to 'averages' of conditions. They had two large severe weather events in ATL this past week and spring break for public schools in the Atlanta metro and many other places (including the Minneapolis and Detroit metros). So with several of their hubs on K12 spring break, DL was probably close to capacity for the week regardless and then you got two major disruptions which threw everything out of whack.
In some countries they try to avoid the travel nightmares caused by too many places having school breaks around the same time by enforcing staggered dates. Maybe that's something to consider as well.
Is it possible for an airline to maintain enough excess capacity to effortlessly cover for extraordinary circumstances on peak travel dates? Probably not. Should it take 4-5 days to recover? Probably not. The question is then really why their systems have not been able to re-arrange flight and staff schedules within a shorter time period.
In some countries they try to avoid the travel nightmares caused by too many places having school breaks around the same time by enforcing staggered dates. Maybe that's something to consider as well.
Is it possible for an airline to maintain enough excess capacity to effortlessly cover for extraordinary circumstances on peak travel dates? Probably not. Should it take 4-5 days to recover? Probably not. The question is then really why their systems have not been able to re-arrange flight and staff schedules within a shorter time period.
Apr 8, 2017, 1:52 pm
#438
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Seattle
Programs: DL DM; Hyatt Globalist; etc
Posts: 540
Is it possible for an airline to maintain enough excess capacity to effortlessly cover for extraordinary circumstances on peak travel dates? Probably not. Should it take 4-5 days to recover? Probably not. The question is then really why their systems have not been able to re-arrange flight and staff schedules within a shorter time period.
Of course they're not going to be able to handle this effortlessly, but the lack of preparation definitely made it worse. If they had started with proper waivers for the storm (which was forecasted) it might have gone a long way to avoid the situation we're in right now.
It sounds suspiciously that there is a 'perfect storm' of weather + IT problems that are causing the problems to extend this far, but that's not comforting to people who are depending on DL to get them where they need to go.
Given that they know far in advance what their approximate loads are going to be around spring break season, you'd think they would have tried to address potential storms as far in advance as possible.
Apr 8, 2017, 1:55 pm
#439
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Nashville, TN
Programs: 2018: Delta Diamond Medallion, Hilton Honors Diamond
Posts: 104
I'm delayed in ATL on DL2599 to BNA. We are delayed because we don't have flight attendants, and the gate agent just told us their scheduling system went down.
Those hypothesizing a yet-to-be-announced IT issue seem to be spot on. What a disaster. I'll be requesting a status match from American next week.
Those hypothesizing a yet-to-be-announced IT issue seem to be spot on. What a disaster. I'll be requesting a status match from American next week.
Apr 8, 2017, 2:17 pm
#440
Join Date: Jul 2012
Posts: 1,079
I had the GA tell us yesterday that ops was telling him they were waiting for crew for our pilot and plane sitting st BWI. When asked where they were coming from, he said it couldn't be from any scheduled incoming flights and when he asked ops they had no idea. They were just telling him what to say. The flight was cancelled two hours later.
Apr 8, 2017, 2:17 pm
#441
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: MSP
Programs: DL Platinum, Marriott Life Plat, HHonors DM
Posts: 116
Delayed by 90 minutes in Denver. SkyClub had a line of 5 people, 2 check in agents, diligently working on rebooking 2 pax. I just walked in. Agents didn't even look up. No seats open and staff were bringing in hard chairs to sit in. #Deltafail
Apr 8, 2017, 2:18 pm
#442
Join Date: May 2014
Location: DMV
Posts: 2,092
I'm delayed in ATL on DL2599 to BNA. We are delayed because we don't have flight attendants, and the gate agent just told us their scheduling system went down.
Those hypothesizing a yet-to-be-announced IT issue seem to be spot on. What a disaster. I'll be requesting a status match from American next week.
Those hypothesizing a yet-to-be-announced IT issue seem to be spot on. What a disaster. I'll be requesting a status match from American next week.
Apr 8, 2017, 2:19 pm
#443
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: ATL Lost Luggage
Programs: Kettle with Kryptonium Medallion Tags
Posts: 10,316
For $35, I suggest buying one for insurance.
Apr 8, 2017, 2:34 pm
#444
Join Date: Nov 2013
Programs: DL PM
Posts: 1,089
Delayed by 90 minutes in Denver. SkyClub had a line of 5 people, 2 check in agents, diligently working on rebooking 2 pax. I just walked in. Agents didn't even look up. No seats open and staff were bringing in hard chairs to sit in. #Deltafail
Apr 8, 2017, 2:38 pm
#445
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: 1/2 way between FNT,DTW
Programs: DL Plat, US Gold
Posts: 711
It appears the crew scheduling system crashed so my idea of how to fix this mess is probably not viable but what I was thinking after a day of this mess was you have 2 very good and in some cases underutilized hubs in MSP and DTW and you have planes at outstations that can't get back to ATL with probably many connecting passengers why not just re-schedule those planes to these hubs and then onward and then rotate them overnight on deadheads back to ATL maybe even routing those passengers who Atlanta is destination on these planes. For example. Instead of a plane that's in OKC that can't get to Atlanta route it to DTW then somewhere else to get it back in rotation or back to Atlanta via overnight deadhead. Get passengers with connections to another hub where they might have a chance of getting to where they need to be. This was a complete mess and was handled worse than either of the 2 computer meltdowns.
Apr 8, 2017, 2:43 pm
#446
Join Date: May 2008
Location: NYC
Programs: DL PM; UA 1K; AA 1MM
Posts: 4,519
It appears the crew scheduling system crashed so my idea of how to fix this mess is probably not viable but what I was thinking after a day of this mess was you have 2 very good and in some cases underutilized hubs in MSP and DTW and you have planes at outstations that can't get back to ATL with probably many connecting passengers why not just re-schedule those planes to these hubs and then onward and then rotate them overnight on deadheads back to ATL maybe even routing those passengers who Atlanta is destination on these planes. For example. Instead of a plane that's in OKC that can't get to Atlanta route it to DTW then somewhere else to get it back in rotation or back to Atlanta via overnight deadhead. Get passengers with connections to another hub where they might have a chance of getting to where they need to be. This was a complete mess and was handled worse than either of the 2 computer meltdowns.
Apr 8, 2017, 2:46 pm
#447
Join Date: Aug 2011
Programs: IHG Spire Ambassador, CC Gold, Marriott Gold, HH Gold, DL PM
Posts: 526
I am monitoring the flight that they put my boyfriend on today (ATL-STL, he opted to drive yesterday). We never confirmed the new flight nor has he checked in. They finally offloaded him from the flight and the flight left.
Clearly there has been no one to help in retrieving his bag. Track my bag shoes that it was loaded onto the plane, but is delayed. We are hoping that they did not offload his bag when they cancelled his ticket. The luggage phone number has some platitudes about weather delays and then hangs up on you. He will probably go to the STL airport this evening and file a baggage claim if it doesn't arrive. Maybe they will be able to deliver it to him sometime in the next two weeks.
Really glad that this thread existed yesterday as we were able to quickly make the decision for him to get a car and drive, instead of waiting around for a day(s) at the airport. Really glad that his flight home is on Frontier!
Clearly there has been no one to help in retrieving his bag. Track my bag shoes that it was loaded onto the plane, but is delayed. We are hoping that they did not offload his bag when they cancelled his ticket. The luggage phone number has some platitudes about weather delays and then hangs up on you. He will probably go to the STL airport this evening and file a baggage claim if it doesn't arrive. Maybe they will be able to deliver it to him sometime in the next two weeks.
Really glad that this thread existed yesterday as we were able to quickly make the decision for him to get a car and drive, instead of waiting around for a day(s) at the airport. Really glad that his flight home is on Frontier!
Apr 8, 2017, 2:55 pm
#449
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: MSP
Programs: DL Platinum, Marriott Life Plat, HHonors DM
Posts: 116
Delayed by 90 minutes in Denver. SkyClub had a line of 5 people, 2 check in agents, diligently working on rebooking 2 pax. I just walked in. Agents didn't even look up. No seats open and staff were bringing in hard chairs to sit in. #Deltafail