When Southwest Airlines experienced a prolonged disruption over Christmas 2022, it faced significant media criticism. In contrast, Delta Air Lines' recent operational issues have not attracted the same level of negative attention.
Southwest's problems were initially caused by insufficient staffing to handle adverse weather and IT systems that failed to reboot their operations. Delta's current challenges began with an issue involving CrowdStrike, which also affected other airlines and companies like Starbucks. However, while competitors recovered quickly, Delta has struggled to restore normal operations.
On Sunday, American Airlines canceled 2% of its flights despite bad weather in Texas, whereas Delta canceled 36%. Despite this disparity, Delta has maintained a positive narrative rather than taking responsibility for the disruptions. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg reportedly contacted Delta CEO Ed Bastian to remind him of the airline’s responsibilities to passengers.