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Delta Air Lines is emerging from one of the most significant airline meltdowns in recent history. Over a span of five days, the airline canceled more flights than it did in all of 2018 and 2019 combined. Aircraft were out of position, crew members were unaccounted for, and customers faced difficulties reaching the airline. Hundreds of thousands of passengers had their travel plans disrupted.
Amidst this chaos, Delta CEO Ed Bastian was notably absent from public view. Typically known for his media presence, Bastian did not give interviews or address employees and customers during the crisis. He attributed the meltdown to a CrowdStrike outage but did not acknowledge his own carrier’s IT issues that exacerbated the situation.
According to reports by ATX Jetsetter, Bastian left the country while passengers remained stranded and employees worked to restore operations. Airline sources confirmed that he and his girlfriend boarded flight 84 from Atlanta to Paris on Tuesday night. The airline defended his trip with a statement:
