Delta is still melting, and could continue throughout the week.

New York
CNN
—

Bad news for passengers: Delta Air Lines canceled hundreds of flights early Tuesday morning, due to problems caused by last week’s incidents. Global Technology Blackout The collapse continued on the fifth day. And the worst news: Delta’s collapse is likely to continue until the end of the week.

As of 6 a.m. ET, the Atlanta-based airline had canceled 383 flights, and Endeavor Air, the regional carrier that feeds into its system under the Delta Connection brand, had canceled another 18. The cancellations come after more than 1,250 flights cancelled on Mondayand 4,500 flights from Friday to Sunday.

The problems arose due to a software update released late Thursday night by Cybersecurity company CrowdStrike This caused a Windows crash, and the cascading effect caused problems across the global aviation industry last Friday.

Although most airlines were able to recover and resume normal operations by the end of the week, Delta was unable to fix Problems with crew tracking systemWhich made it unable to find the pilots and flight attendants it needed to operate its planes.

Raul Samant, the company’s chief information officer, warned in a message to Delta employees on Monday that the problems would continue for at least several more days.

“We’re optimistic that we’ll be able to get it done,” Samant said in a video message to CEO Ed Bastian. “There are going to be a few things that Ed said that we’ll do today and tomorrow to get to a better place by the end of the week.” He said IT staff were working “hard” and “around the clock” to fix the problem.

Passengers and crew are frustrated.

The problems have left tens of thousands of frustrated Delta customers stranded and unable to get home. Many booked other flights that were later canceled as well. The lack of hotel rooms has forced many to sleep in airports and wait hours on the phone trying to contact Delta in an often futile attempt to find a flight.

Delta crew members are experiencing similar frustrations. Many are stranded at airports far from their bases and homes, unable to board flights because Delta has been unable to locate and get crew members on planes. Some Delta crew members are unable to get hotel rooms and are sleeping in airports. Airport staff deal with angry and frustrated customers who don’t understand why their flights are being canceled when crew members are available.

This week, Delta was left in the dark about the whereabouts of its crew members. Crew members who logged into the company’s computer system to check in for flights received messages and questions that included: “Please enter the airport code closest to you below,” “What is your current status?” and “Please describe your current location.”

A person familiar with the airline’s operations allowed CNN to see screenshots of the guidelines. Delta declined to comment on questions posed to crew.

To help resolve the staffing issues, Delta is offering crew members additional pay, as well as additional assurances that they will be able to return home at the end of their shift, according to screenshots seen by CNN. The additional pay and assurances will be in effect through Friday, another sign that the staffing issue may not be resolved for several more days. Delta declined to comment on the crew member offers.

Costs are $163 million – and rising.

The service collapse will cost Delta, both in reputation and financial terms. The collapse has already cost the most profitable U.S. airline about $163 million as of Monday, according to estimates by Savanthi Seth, an aviation analyst at Raymond James.

This estimate comes from lost revenue and is likely to rise once additional employee wages and customer compensation are added in. While the problems experienced on Tuesday and the rest of the week are not as bad as the previous four days, additional flight cancellations will add to these losses.

Delta has prided itself on its on-time performance and customer service. Earlier this month, it boasted in its earnings report that it had the best completion factor in the industry and on-time performance, had operated for 39 days without cancellations, and was a “perfect brand.” This crash does some damage to that reputation that will take some time to repair.

After a similar service breakdown at Southwest Airlines during the 2022 holiday travel period, the airline canceled nearly 17,000 flights, or roughly half of its schedule, stranding more than 2 million passengers over a 10-day period. That cost it nearly $1.2 billion between 2015 and 2017. fourth quarter of that year And the First two months of 2023. In addition to Customer CompensationThe airline faced additional labor costs The company suffered revenue losses that continued through February and was fined $140 million by the Department of Transportation.

The issue could cost Delta some future bookings from frustrated customers. Last weekend was the busiest travel period of the summer, with 90% of seats booked. That made it difficult for Delta to find other flights for customers whose flights were canceled. Even if Delta were operating normally, it would take days to accommodate all of its stranded, angry passengers.

It will take several more days to get those passengers back to their checked luggage. At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport, thousands of bags were scattered in the baggage claim area, waiting to be reunited with passengers.

United Airlines was also hit hard by the computer problem, with more than 1,000 flights canceled, though it returned to near-normal operations Monday with just 69 cancellations for its main operations. In a memo to employees, CEO Scott Kirby said all 26,000 computers affected by the problem had been fixed and the airline’s operations had been normal for the past 24 hours. He said some passengers had not yet had their luggage returned, and United was using FedEx to deliver bags to some of them.

This story has been updated with additional context and developments.