Delta Flights Slowly Resume After Computer Outage Grounds Airline

Delta Air Lines said it has begun to operate some flights following a major computer systems failure that grounded the airline Sunday evening.

The outage occurred at approximately 7:15 p.m. EST. Only flights that had not yet departed were affected by the problem; flights in the air, the airline said, would be able to continue without issue.

By 9:15 p.m. ET, gate agents were able to board passengers manually by entering confirmation numbers into the computer system.

The airline’s website, however, remained largely offline for transactional purposes and only served to display a message about the outage: “Departing Flights Delayed. We are working quickly to resolve a systemwide outage affecting all departing flights.”

“Delta apologizes to customers for the inconvenience,” the airline said via Twitter.

The airline e-mailed apology letters to passengers impacted by the outage shortly after 8 p.m. EST.

“We are very sorry for the delay you experienced on January 27, 2017,” the airline wrote.

Delta’s last such outage was in August 2016. It took the airline several days to recover from the problem, which resulted in delays and cancellations for several days.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)