US airline Delta has suspended departing flights worldwide after suffering a major system outage.
Update 2
Delta has cancelled approximately 300 flights due to a power outage impacting Delta operations systemwide. As of 10:30 a.m. ET, Delta operated 800 of its nearly 6,000 scheduled flights. While systems are improving and flights are resuming, delays and cancellations continue.
End of update
Update 1
At 8.40 a.m. ET, Delta announced that the ground stop has been lifted and limited departures are resuming following a power outage in Atlanta that impacted Delta computer systems and operations worldwide. Cancellations and delays continue.
End of update
The airline indicated that a power outage in Atlanta, which began at approximately 2:30 a.m. ET, has impacted Delta computer systems and operations worldwide, resulting in flight delays.
Large-scale cancellations are expected today. All flights enroute are operating normally.
“We are aware that flight status systems, including airport screens, are incorrectly showing flights on time. We apologize to customers who are affected by this issue, and our teams are working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible” the airline said in a statement
What caused the outage or how long it will take to resolve has not been released.
Delta operates a fleet of 809 aircraft and along with its subsidiaries and regional affiliates operate over 5,400 flights daily and serve an extensive domestic and international network that includes 334 destinations in 64 countries on six continents.
Computer outages have caused major headaches for airlines and travelers before. Southwest Airlines was forced to cancel more than 2,000 flights across the U.S. last month after technology problems prevented many travelers from checking in or boarding flights.