Delta Air Lines has suspended boarding for unaccompanied minors under the age of 15 until Thursday, July 25, as the airline recovers from a global IT outage on Friday.
While most airlines and businesses affected by the Microsoft CrowdStrike glitch have recovered, Delta’s IT crisis continues to worsen, prompting an investigation by the US Department of Transportation.
Delta Air Lines, which is based at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, said in a statement that unaccompanied minors who already have reservations will not be able to travel. “Please do not make new reservations for unaccompanied minors at this time. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause to you and your family,” the airline said on its website.
Some airlines allow minors over the age of 5 to travel unaccompanied. Once they turn 8, minors can travel on connecting flights.
About 200 Delta flights in and out of Atlanta were canceled on Tuesday, long after parents had thought they would have to worry about IT outages.
Raquel Lieberman’s 11-year-old son was on his way to Atlanta from a summer camp in Boston when he got the first “cryptic message” about a flight change.
“Friday, July 19th, [Delta] “They said the ban on unaccompanied minors was ending on Sunday. I received a cryptic text message at 5:49 p.m. on Saturday, July 20th, informing me that I had to change my children’s travel plans. So I didn’t have much time to make plans for my children on Sunday,” Lieberman said.
Her son and his friend were traveling together, and the children were rebooked for Monday’s flight after their parents received an email saying the embargo had been extended.
” [summer camp team] “They were responsive. They sent someone to the airport on Saturday evening to ask if there was anything they could do about the ban on unaccompanied minors, they emailed to assure the children they could stay at the camp until they could return home, and they continued to look for solutions for children traveling on Delta and called the parents to say they found alternatives,” Lieberman said.
Lieberman rebooked her son on a JetBlue flight to Buffalo, New York, where he was picked up by his grandparents.
“I couldn’t just wait around for Delta to resume solo travel for minors, so I was incredibly fortunate that a close family friend in Boston was able to pick up my son from camp on Sunday and bring him home until a solution could be found,” she said.
On the morning of Tuesday, July 23, a group of teenagers heading to Atlanta from a summer camp in Barryville, New York, were stopped at Camp Tel Yehuda before arriving at Newark Airport. Some had returned to camp while their parents made travel arrangements.
“School starts in a week,” Tamar Kapner said, “and my kid wants to go home.”
Kapner’s alternative plan is to take her daughter by train to Washington, D.C., where she will be picked up by family, and then her mother, who lives in Atlanta, will make the 18-hour round trip road trip to D.C.
Many teenagers aren’t used to traveling, like Rachel’s 16-year-old son, who asked Rough Draft not to use his last name. Rachel’s son, who was returning home from a two-week summer program with 40 other kids in Spain and Portugal, had some issues last summer but doesn’t seem fazed by the travel disruptions.
“Last year, one group was delayed and missed their connecting flight, but they were prepared. Counsellors stayed with the kids and arranged for them to get a hotel room until they could catch their flight,” she said.
This time, the group would fly from Europe to Newark, but there was only one Delta flight departing on Monday, July 22. As a backup plan, Rachel purchased a one-way ticket on United Airlines from Newark to Atlanta for $300.
“I advised them to put any valuables in their carry-on luggage,” said Rachel, who had been tracking Delta flights all day. “The flight appears to be on time, but I’m concerned about the flight to Newark.”
