The
United
Airlines
terminal
on
July
19,
2024
as
a
global
technology
outage
affected
LAX
airport
in
Los
Angeles.
Myung
J.
Chun
|
Los
Angeles
Times
|
Getty
Images
Flight
cancellations
and
delays
continued
on
Saturday
as
airlines
worked
to
recover
from
a
global
IT
outage
sparked
chaos
at
airports
and
for
other
industries
a
day
earlier.
More
than
2,200
flights
were
canceled
on
Saturday,
with
over
1,600
of
them
in
the
United
States,
according
to
flight-tracking
site
FlightAware.
More
than
5,300
U.S.
flights
were
delayed.
On
Friday,
more
than
5,000
flights
were
canceled
worldwide,
with
about
3,400
in
the
U.S.
Over
12,000
U.S.
flights
were
delayed.
The
disruptions
were
similar
to
severe
weather
like
a
winter
or
tropical
storm
but
airlines
had
no
time
to
prepare
for
the
outage,
leaving
them
scrambling
to
accommodate
customers
ahead
of
a
summer
weekend.
A
software
update
from
CrowdStrike
that
went
awry
led
to
a
major
outage
of
Microsoft
systems
for
businesses
around
the
world.
“I
am
proud
of
our
teams
across
the
globe
who
worked
around
the
clock
today
to
safely
get
our
operation
back
on
track
and
care
for
our
customers
after
the
most
disruptive
technology
outage
in
history,”
said
United
Airlines
COO
Toby
Enqvist
in
a
statement
late
Friday.
“While
we
had
to
cancel
and
delay
far
more
flights
than
we
ever
want
to,
we
are
poised
to
return
to
a
near-normal
operation
on
Saturday.”
About
13%
of
United’s
mainline
flights
were
canceled
on
Saturday,
down
from
22%
on
Friday,
according
to
FlightAware
data.
Delta
Air
Lines
canceled
about
25%
of
its
Saturday
flights,
a
slight
improvement
from
31%
a
day
earlier.
Airlines
waived
fare
differences
and
fees
for
affected
customers.
How
much
customers
with
impacted
flights
will
be
reimbursed
for
additional
expenses
like
meals
or
hotels
may
depend
on
the
airline’s
specific
policy.
But
one
mandate
is
clear,
according
to
the
U.S.
Department
of
Transportation:
Customers
are
entitled
to
a
refund
for
a
canceled
flight
if
they
do
not
choose
to
travel
on
an
alternate
flight
or
accept
a
voucher.
“I
am
hearing
reports
of
some
airlines
only
offering
flight
credits
to
passengers
for
cancelled
flights,”
Transportation
Secretary
Pete
Buttigieg
said
in
a
social
media
post
on
Saturday.
“Let
me
be
clear
—
you
are
entitled
to
get
your
money
back
promptly
if
your
flight
is
cancelled
and
you
don’t
take
a
rebooking.”
—
CNBC’s
Rebecca
Picciotto
contributed
to
this
report.
