Washington: Delta Airlines grounded all its flights worldwide on Monday because of a computer breakdown, but lifted the order hours later while warning of cancellations and delays. The carrier blamed the computer problem on a power outage in its hub in Atlanta, Georgia. The halt left tens of thousands of passengers around the world stranded, as they crowded ticket counters and lay on the ground in airports.
Flights will now resume on a limited basis, Delta said in a statement. But the ripple effect of the snafu will drag on. “Customers heading to the airport should expect delays and cancellations,” the statement said. “While inquiries are high and wait times are long, our customer service agents are doing everything they can to assist.” Delta said the power outage that caused the computer meltdown began at 2:30 am. Lines of passengers backed up at Delta ticket counters at US airports. A vast number of flight delays normally creates a cascading problem that affects airline traffic for days. Computer outages halting flights are not uncommon.
