Delta Air Lines has been accused of stranding small children around the United States after it suddenly suspended its solo kids travel program in the wake of the Atlanta-based carrier’s embarrassing operational meltdown that has stretched on for five days.
The embattled airline initially suspended its unaccompanied minor program on Friday after a failed software update by internet security firm CrowdStrike caused a global IT outage that crippled Delta’s operation.
For an additional fee of $150, Delta lets kids aged between just 4 and 17 years old travel without a parent or guardian. Delta will then take guardianship of the child and look after them throughout their journey in the airport and onboard its planes.
The problem with running an unaccompanied minor program, however, is that its not only incredibly resource intensive but that it throws up lots of problems of how to properly look after a small child should a flight be significantly delayed or even cancelled.
And that’s exactly the kind of problem that Delta was trying to avoid when it suspended its unaccompanied minor program.
Since Saturday, Delta has canceled more than 4,200 flights and over 5,685 flights have faced disruption. At the same time, the staff that are meant to look after unaccompanied minors have been redeployed to help tens of thousands of stranded passengers who have been desperately seeking rebooking options.
As reported by the New York Times, however, the reasoning behind Delta’s move, however sensible, has left many parents in a terrible predicament after flights and travel plans that were booked many months ago have been left in tatters.
What’s worse is that Delta initially suspended the unaccompanied travel plan until Sunday, only to then extend the suspension until the end of Tuesday, July 23 when the carrier realized it still wasn’t on top of the operational meltdown.
Thankfully, it now appears that Delta has finally turned a corner and far fewer cancellations and delays are expected from Wednesday onwards.
The unaccompanied minor program is due to restart Julu 24 but the Department of Transportation (DOT) remains unimpressed with Delta’s response to the CrowdStrike outage and the ensuing chaos.
In a statement, a DOT spokesperson said the department was “extremely concerned” about reports it had received that some unaccompanied minors had been stranded at airports in the midst of the meltdown.
A spokesperson added: “We are seeking answers from Delta as part of our investigation and have made clear that we expect Delta to prioritize getting kids safely and swiftly to their destinations”.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said on Tuesday that the DOT had opened a formal investigation into Delta’s handling of the IT outage which would seek to ensure that the airline “is following the law and taking care of its passengers during continued widespread disruptions.”
Buttigieg added: “All airline passengers have the right to be treated fairly, and I will make sure that right is upheld.”
On Tuesday, Delta said it was in receipt of the DOT investigation paperwork and that it was cooperating with federal officials.
Delta has pinned the blame for its meltdown on a crew scheduling system that was knocked out by the CrowdStrike update bug. When the airline got the system back up and running, it was unable to keep up with the number of schedule changes, which progressively made the situation worse.
