A major global technology outage that hit individuals and businesses on Friday is still disrupting air travel around the world days later.
This protection means that if a passenger’s flight is cancelled, they can get a refund if they choose not to travel, they can get a refund if their flight is significantly delayed, and they can get a refund for baggage fees if their luggage is lost.
“Delta must provide prompt refunds to consumers who do not wish to rebook, rebook at no charge to consumers who do, and provide timely refunds for meals and hotels to consumers affected by delays and cancellations,” Buttigieg said in a statement late Sunday night.
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Passengers stranded at RDU
Delta Air Lines has canceled more than 4,000 flights since Friday. While most airlines have since recovered from Friday’s suspensions, Delta was particularly hard hit, with some passengers stranded for days.
Jerry Matthews told WRAL News he was traveling to Tampa for vacation with 17 family members when he got stranded at the airport.
“We looked online for a plane. Tampa…nothing It’s available,” he said.
Many Delta Air Lines passengers said they had to book with other airlines to reach their final destinations. The airline said Monday it would cover or refund the cost of meal vouchers and hotels. It also said all customers with flights booked between July 19 and 23 could make a one-time change to their itinerary or get a refund.
Delta executives have previously said the issue could take several days to resolve.
For Skip Horn, who is recovering from back surgery, it was literally painful.
Horn’s flight on Monday was canceled and another flight wasn’t available until Tuesday, so he ended up waiting at RDU for 24 hours.
“I have no choice,” Horn said. “I’ve already checked out of the hotel, I have nowhere to go. This is my home for today.”
Horne, like thousands of passengers across the country, was stranded on Monday.
Carolina Castillo’s family is trying to return home to Florida from Italy.
“We’re very tired,” Castillo said. “It’s been a long day for us. We’ve been from hotel to hotel, we’re trying to go home, but we can’t.”
A Saturday stop in Detroit turned into a two-day stop for the family, who are now stuck at RDU after yet another flight was canceled.
“We’ve looked everywhere – West Palm Beach, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando – and they’re saying it’s been three days and they still haven’t found anything,” Castillo said.
Castillo said it has been an uphill battle to obtain meal and hotel vouchers that the federal government claims are owed to passengers whose flights were canceled because of a computer glitch.
