SEATTLE — Airline passengers across the country, including SEA Airport are still dealing with the fallout of a system-wide outage that impacted computer systems around the globe.
This network-wide outage, which impacted Windows users, was determined to be caused by a faulty software upgrade. Lawmakers are now looking into how airline passengers were impacted by the fallout.
Washington senator Maria Cantwell (D) is among the elected officials after answers. She wrote a letter to Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian, questioning the carrier’s response to a system-wide outage.
Cantwell alleged customers were not provided with upfront information about refunds and were not offered a timely way to communicate with customer service agents.
Ranking Member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Rick Larsen (D-WA) released a statement alleging, "families across the country are still stranded at airports due to last week’s global technology outage, and the slow response by some airlines to this meltdown has been unacceptable,”
Delays and cancelations that lawmakers believe are disproportionately impacting Delta Air Lines. The Department of Transportation announced Tuesday that it’s opening a formal investigation.
"Part of why we are opening this investigation is the scale of the problem," said Pete Buttigieg, transportation secretary. "Over six thousand flights have been canceled since Friday, hundreds of flights have been canceled today and we estimate that more than half a million passengers have been impacted by this."
These questions come just two months after a new package of legislation into law by President Joe Biden. Over the next year, airlines will be required to make many changes including offering hassle-free refunds and improving communication with customers with customers.
Something many will argue has, clearly not happened yet.
In a statement released Monday, Delta said employees are “working around the clock.” Delta said the company is extending a travel waiver allowing customers to rebook flights at no additional cost.