Delta cancels additional 600 flights on Monday following cyber outage

Since Friday, Delta has cancelled over 5,000 flights, markedly more than other airlines like American and United, which have largely recovered.
Microsoft and CrowdStrike deny responsibility for Delta's disruptions.

Delta Air Lines cancelled over 600 flights on Monday as it faced operational challenges following a global cyber outage last week. The disruptions, caused by a faulty software update from CrowdStrike, impacted Delta’s crew tracking system and led to the cancellation of more than 5,000 flights since Friday. As of early Monday, approximately 16% of Delta’s flights were cancelled, stranding thousands of travellers and forcing some to seek alternative transportation or delay their trips.

While other US airlines have largely recovered from the outage, Delta remains heavily affected. American Airlines and United Airlines reported minimal flight cancellations compared to Delta’s extensive disruptions. Delta CEO Ed Bastian explained that the outage had disrupted critical crew tracking tools, causing difficulties in managing the high volume of flight changes.

Delta’s shares showed little movement in premarket trading, and the airline is working to adjust its schedules to ensure safety and restore normal operations. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has engaged with Delta’s leadership to emphasise the airline’s responsibility to its customers. Meanwhile, CrowdStrike reported that many of the 8.5 million affected Microsoft devices are now back online.