Delta Air Lines expects to resume normal operations by mid-to-late afternoon Wednesday after a power outage knocked out the airline's systems Monday, causing delays and nearly 2,000 flight cancellations worldwide.
As of 8:40 a.m. Wednesday, Delta had announced 150 flight cancellations for the day. On Tuesday, about 800 flights were canceled, less than the 1,000 flights canceled Monday.
The recovery might, however, be delayed by scattered thunderstorms forecast in the eastern United States, Delta officials warned.
Travelers were advised to check the status of their flights on the airline's app or Delta's website, where customers can also rebook flights.
Crews worked overnight to complete work bringing Delta's systems back to order Tuesday. A majority of Wednesday's remaining delays and cancellations are because of “flight crews displaced or running up against their maximum allowed duty period following the outage,” according to the company.
Delta is offering $200 travel vouchers to customers whose flights have been delayed more than three hours or canceled through 12 p.m. Wednesday.
Delta spokesman Trebor Banstetter said that after Monday's power outage, key systems and network equipment did not switch over to backups. The investigation of the outage is ongoing, but Banstetter said that there is no indication that the problems were caused by a hack or intentional breach of the system.
Delta is based in Atlanta.
A spokesman for the local electric company, Georgia Power, said the problem started with a piece of Delta equipment called a switchgear, which direct flows within a power system. No other customers lost power, he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cox Media Group
