The United Airlines terminal on July 19, 2024 as a world technology outage affected LAX airport in Los Angeles.
Myung J. Chun | Los Angeles Times | Getty Images
Flight cancellations and delays continued on Saturday as airlines worked to recuperate from a world IT outage sparked chaos at airports and for other industries a day earlier.
Greater than 2,200 flights were canceled on Saturday, with over 1,600 of them in the USA, in keeping with flight-tracking site FlightAware. Greater than 5,300 U.S. flights were delayed.
On Friday, greater than 5,000 flights were canceled worldwide, with about 3,400 within the U.S. Over 12,000 U.S. flights were delayed.
The disruptions were just like severe weather like a winter or tropical storm but airlines had no time to arrange for the outage, leaving them scrambling to accommodate customers ahead of a summer weekend.
A software update from CrowdStrike that went awry led to a significant outage of Microsoft systems for businesses world wide.
“I’m pleased with our teams across the globe who worked across the clock today to securely get our operation back on the right track and take care of our customers after probably the most disruptive technology outage in history,” said United Airlines COO Toby Enqvist in an announcement late Friday. “While we needed to cancel and delay much more flights than we ever wish to, we’re poised to return to a near-normal operation on Saturday.”
About 13% of United’s mainline flights were canceled on Saturday, down from 22% on Friday, in keeping with FlightAware data. Delta Air Lines canceled about 25% of its Saturday flights, a slight improvement from 31% a day earlier.
Airlines waived fare differences and charges for affected customers.
How much customers with impacted flights will likely be reimbursed for added expenses like meals or hotels may rely upon the airline’s specific policy.
But one mandate is obvious, in keeping with the U.S. Department of Transportation: Customers are entitled to a refund for a canceled flight in the event that they don’t decide to travel on an alternate flight or accept a voucher.
“I’m hearing reports of some airlines only offering flight credits to passengers for cancelled flights,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a social media post on Saturday. “Let me be clear — you’re entitled to get your a refund promptly in case your flight is cancelled and you do not take a rebooking.”
— CNBC’s Rebecca Picciotto contributed to this report.
