July 25, 2024

Reps. Larsen, Cohen, Stanton and T&I Democrats Send Letter to Delta Air Lines Regarding Handling of Mass Flight Disruptions

Washington, D.C.—Today, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Rick Larsen (D-WA), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Aviation Steve Cohen (D-TN), Vice Ranking Member of the Committee Greg Stanton (D-AZ) and 18 Democratic Committee Members sent a letter to Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian expressing concerns over the airline’s handling of the extensive flight disruptions caused by the recent CrowdStrike global technology outage.

“Families and travelers were unexpectedly stranded at airports across the country and Delta Air Lines’ insufficient customer response and ongoing operational failures—including more than 6,700 cancelled flights—are unacceptable,” the Members wrote. “We recognize that the cascading impacts of the global outage were not exclusive to your airline, but Delta continued to experience such significant system challenges after other air carriers mostly recovered. The traveling public expects and deserves better.”

“Decisive actions must be taken to recover Delta’s operations and restore Americans’ confidence in the reliability of our aviation system,” the Members continued. “We expect Delta to fully comply with any federal investigations or audits into the airlines’ handling of the disruption to flights resulting from the recent global technology outage.”

The members also highlighted provisions in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 that require any passengers experiencing these kinds of extreme flight delays or cancellations to be made whole and requested a detailed response describing Delta’s operational and customer service challenges.

To read the full letter, click here.

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