Delta Cancels 250 More Flights After Monday's Meltdown

LONDON—Delta Air Lines Inc. Tuesday said it would cancel 250 more flights as a knock-on effect from a computer outage that caused about 1,000 cancellations the day before.

The additional cancellations are intended to allow Delta "to reset the operation and get crews, aircraft and other operational elements in place to take care of customers," the company said.

"We were able to bring our systems back on line and resume flights within a few hours yesterday but we are still operating in recovery mode," Delta senior vice president for operations Dave Holtz said in a statement.

The airline was working hard to resume normal operations, Mr. Holtz said, though further delays and cancellations couldn't be avoided.

An electrical problem at Delta's Atlanta headquarters occurred early Monday, triggering a computer outage that forced the airline to cancel flights and hold departures for hours. The technical problems likely will cost Delta millions of dollars in lost revenue and could dent its image as the most reliable major international airline in the U.S.

Delta also said it was extending a "travel waiver" into a second day allowing passengers to alter flight arrangements free of charge.

Delta is only the latest U.S. carrier to be hit by major disruptions from technical problems. That has raised questions about whether a recent wave of four U.S. airline mergers, which created four large carriers controlling 85% of domestic capacity, has built companies too large and too reliant on IT systems that date from the 1990s. Delta merged with Northwest Airlines eight years ago.

Write to Robert Wall at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 09, 2016 07:35 ET (11:35 GMT)

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