Markey and Blumenthal query airlines about information technology systems

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Travelers United worked closely with both of these senators’ office staffs in developing this letter to the airlines  in light of recent widespread cancellations and delays.

Unfortunately, the focus of the media has been on technical failures of Delta’s information technology (IT) systems. Almost no coverage has been focused on consumer issues related to these IT outages. In fact, Delta Air Lines’ remedies have been woefully inadequate and have actually punished its own passengers for the airline’s own failures.

Passengers have been inconvenienced by cancellations and delays. They may have missed organized tours and cruises. Other passengers, especially families, may have missed irreplaceable vacation time that cannot easily be rescheduled.

Now, arrogantly, Delta Air Lines expects their affected passengers to pay additional airfares and fees in order to use airline tickets that they purchased from Delta and were not able to use because of Delta’s failures to provide service. Delta did not notify passengers of their rights under Delta’s contract of carriage, under European Union rules, and Montreal Convention treaties.

Both Senator Markey and Senator Blumenthal are focused, together with Travelers United, on pushing airlines to provide protections for their passengers and to explore how airlines can assist their passengers in such systemwide shutdowns. Their press release and letter follows.

Travelers United urges Delta, at the very least, to make airline tickets and airfares paid and affected by Delta’s failures usable for a year from the dates of cancellation and delays. There should be no change in airfares if itineraries are unchanged and the full value of the ticket should be usable if passengers request changes.

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Senators also ask airlines about policies for reimbursement or to allow passengers to rebook on competing carriers’ flights during travel disruptions

Washington (August 16, 2016) – As airline passengers suffer cancellations and delays due to unexplained airline technology issues, today, Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) queried 13 major airlines about efforts to ensure airline information technology (IT) systems are reliable and resilient. Recently, Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines experienced technology issues that resulted in thousands of flight cancellations across the country. Last year, a United Airlines router issue grounded all of the airline’s flights for two hours. In the letters, the Senators inquire about safeguards and backups in place within airline IT systems to protect against power outages, cyberattacks, and other hazards. The Senators also ask the airlines about policies that would allow passengers to be rebooked on another airline or on a different mode of transportation in the event of irregular operations caused by the airlines, as well as about their reimbursement and compensation policies.

“We are concerned with recent reports indicating that airlines’ IT systems may be susceptible to faltering because of the way they are designed and have been maintained,” write Senators Markey and Blumenthal in the letters to the airline CEOs. “Now that four air carriers control approximately 85 percent of domestic capacity, all it takes is one airline to experience an outage and thousands of passengers could be stranded, resulting in missed business meetings, graduations, weddings, funerals, and other prepaid events.”

Senators Markey and Blumenthal sent letters to the following airlines: American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Alaska Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Allegiant Air, Virgin America, Sun Country Airlines and Island Air Hawaii.

A copy of the letter can be found HERE.

In the letter, Senators Markey and Blumenthal ask questions that include:

• Over the past five years, what was the cause of IT outages or disruptions that caused flight cancellations or delays longer than one hour, what safeguards were in place at the time each outage occurred, and why did these safeguards fail to prevent the disruption?
• What specific safeguards and backups does your company have in place to prevent your airline’s IT systems from failing?
• What is the state of your airline’s IT system and what specific steps are being taken to modernize it, if needed?
• In the event of delays and cancellations caused by the air carrier, does your airline rebook passengers on another airline or with a different mode of transportation for no additional charge?
• What other compensation and recourse, including but not limited to lodging, food, and reimbursement, does your airline provide consumers in the event of delays and cancellations caused by the air carrier?