Tech outage ensnarls Delta, prompts hearings
The airline is under federal investigation for its handling of flight cancellations that stranded hundreds of passengers


What happened
Delta Air Lines canceled more than 800 flights on Monday, struggling to recover from a worldwide technology outage even as most other airlines and affected companies largely resumed normal operations. The outage started Friday when cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike released a faulty update for Microsoft Windows devices, sparking global mayhem at airlines, hospitals, logistics companies and other institutions. Delta was hit especially hard, canceling more than 5,500 flights total.
Who said what
It will be "another couple of days" before "the worst is clearly behind us," Delta CEO Ed Bastian said to employees Monday. "Today will be a better day than yesterday, and hopefully Tuesday and Wednesday will be that much better again."
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said he told Bastian on Sunday that his agency had received "hundreds of complaints" about Delta and made clear "we will hold them to all applicable passenger protections," including refunds for customers who want them.
What next?
The chairs of the House Homeland Security Committee and its cybersecurity subcommittee told CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz on Monday to prepare to testify and "detail how this incident happened and the mitigation steps CrowdStrike is taking" to "ensure that it does not happen again."
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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