While most airlines successfully recovered from the worldwide technology outage caused by a software update, Delta Air Lines continues to bounce back from the issue, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded. The historic outage across Microsoft systems not only affected airlines but also hospitals and countless other businesses. Contactless payments were also impacted.

Now, six days after a global IT outage at CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm, Delta continues to cancel flights. On the morning of July 23 alone, the airline canceled more than 400 flights, the most of any major airline according to FlightAware. On the day of the outage, Delta canceled more than 1,200 flights, canceling thousands more flights over the weekend.

In a note to customers, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said, “The issue impacted the Microsoft Windows operating system. Delta has a significant number of applications that use that system, and in particular one of our crew tracking-related tools was affected and unable to effectively process the unprecedented number of changes triggered by the system shutdown. Our teams have been working around the clock to recover and restore full functionality.”

On July 23, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced the opening of an investigation into Delta over the flight disruptions.

The U.S. Department of Transportation “has opened an investigation into Delta Air Lines to ensure the airline is following the law and taking care of its passengers during the continued widespread disruptions,” said Buttigieg in a recent statement on X. “All airline passengers have the right to be treated fairly, and I will make sure that right is upheld.”

In response to the outage, Delta created a page dedicated to passengers traveling through July 28. The airline offers passengers a travel waiver to let customers make a one-time change to their itinerary. The fare difference will also be waived when rebooked travel occurs on or before Aug. 4 in the same cabin of service originally booked.

If travel is not able to be rescheduled within these guidelines, customers may cancel their reservation and apply any unused value of the ticket toward the purchase of a new ticket for a period of one year from the original ticket issuance. Eligibility for this waiver is only for customers with an original ticket issue date on or before July 23.

“I want to thank Delta’s employees, who have been working tirelessly across our system to restore our best-in-class operation and take care of you during a very challenging situation. Thank you for your patience as we work through these issues, restore our operation and return to the reliability you expect from Delta,” added Bastian.

In total, the outage affected 8.5 million computers running Windows globally.

“Delta must provide prompt refunds to consumers who choose not to take rebooking, free booking for those who do, and timely reimbursements for food and hotel stays to consumers affected by these delays and cancellations, as well as adequate customer service assistance,” said Buttigieg.

Were you affected by the outage? Are you flying with Delta in the next few weeks? Are you taking advantage of Delta’s waiver?  Tell us your thoughts. Email us at letters@globaltravelerusa.com. Please include your full name and location.