By Jennifer Lifsey, Asia Wilson and Brittany Ford
Published: Jul. 22, 2024 at 6:31 AM EDT|Updated: Jul. 22, 2024 at 10:15 PM EDT
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - It’s now day four of travel woes as airlines like Delta continue to struggle to restore normal operations after a faulty software update caused technological havoc across the globe.
It’s been especially chaotic in Atlanta at the world’s busiest airport. Many travelers Atlanta News First spoke to over the weekend at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport said they had been sleeping in the airport since all of this went down on Friday.
We’ve seen long lines at Delta counters as people have been trying to rebook their flights because of hundreds of cancellations and delays over the weekend.
As of Monday morning, Delta said 600+ of 5,300 scheduled flights are canceled. Over 300 of those flights are heading to or leaving Hartsfield-Jackson.
The ongoing outage is causing all sorts of disruptions for the Atlanta-based airline.
Delta employees put out dozens of unclaimed luggage near baggage claim Monday. Employee’s assisted people whose bags got mixed up throughout the IT outage.
Thomas Kolowich of Woodstock had his flight to Key West canceled three times Friday.
He said he just wants his bags.
“Came down to try to find our bags on Friday filed a claim and now it’s Monday and we don’t have any bags. We’ve been here every day,” Kolowich said.
RELATED: Backups continue at Hartsfield-Jackson airport after global tech outage, Delta offers reimbursem*nts
Delta said they are working around the clock to recover and restore full functionality. They’ve been offering travel waivers at no charge to affected customers.
In a statement, Delta officials mentioned that they’re also offering things like meal vouchers, hotel accommodations, and transportation for those impacted.
We will be covering eligible expenses for impacted customers resulting from this flight disruption, including providing meal vouchers, hotel accommodations where available & ground transportation. 6/8
— Delta (@Delta) July 21, 2024
Delta sent Atlanta News First the following statement Monday morning regarding its current status.
One woman said she had been trying to leave the airport since Friday.
“Me and my family flew in from Little Rock, Arkansas and we were trying to get to Orlando, Florida for a cruise,” said JaBrea Gray. “We even came in a day early and we have been stuck here. They have canceled all flights,” she said.
Gray said her flight was canceled five times and will likely miss their cruise.
“It’s supposed to be today, and we’re not going to make it to the port,” Gray said. “We supposed to be there at 3:30 in Orlando,” she said.
Carly Barney said she was about to board her Delta flight and learned it was canceled at the gate.
“We found out it was no captain,” Barney said. “Just frustrated cause why couldn’t they tell us last night or this morning,” she said.
She said her family does not know when they will be able to leave.
“They couldn’t guarantee us another flight out, so they said maybe Thursday,” Barney said. “I mean they’re trying to put us on standby.”
>> HOW TO GET REIMBURSED BY DELTA
Barney’s husband stood in a very long line trying to get their luggage back. Barney said Delta officials told them their bags were not at the airport.
“Basically, that if you’ve already checked them, they’re just going to go to the destination,” Barney said. “We just don’t know when we are going to get them back,” she said. “I’m really annoyed because I keep thinking about it, first of all we need her car seat and then all of our stuff is there. I’m really frustrated. I’m like if we are here why can’t we get them back,” Barney added.
Over the weekend, one man told Atlanta News First that he tried to rent a car at the airport after his canceled flights.
“We were having trouble booking a flight with Atlanta, so then we were like maybe we could just drop off the rental in Atlanta and then get a new one and drive it all the way back to Austin, “Andre said. “We reserved a rental car from Atlanta to go to Austin, and when we get here, they tell us there’s actually no cars available to get to Austin, so we’re kind of just sitting ducks here right now.”
Now, many people are hopeful a resolution will be found soon.
“We out here living like homeless people trying to figure out a way, so sad. I could just cry right now,” Gray said. “I’m sleeping. We just got kicked out of a hotel. We booked a hotel online then we get there, and they say we booked up. They let us sit in the lobby a little while then they kicked us out and now, we back to square one,” she added.
Delta officials told Atlanta News First on Monday night that they’ve added “dozens of staff into the baggage claim process to help expedite the return” of customers’ bags as soon as possible.
Airline officials said customers should use the process found on this page to reclaim their missing bags.
MORE COVERAGE:
Delta Air Lines says cancellations continue as it tries to restore operations after tech outage
‘It will happen again’: Information security expert says it could take companies weeks to recover from CrowdStrike outage
‘We haven’t seen this issue’: Georgia offices impacted by global computer outage
Global computer outage impacting flights at Atlanta airport
Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved.
