Southern New England travelers say they’ve been stranded as flight disruptions persist
by KATIE BENOIT, NBC 10 NEWS
WARWICK, R.I. (WJAR) — Thousands of Delta Air Lines passengers were still trying to get home Tuesday after a global IT failure shut down the airline.
Traveles arrived at Rhode Island T.F. Green International Airport days late. Bags were also piling up. One-man said he was stuck in New York City.
Last week’s massive IT outage is to blame for issues across the country, hitting Delta especially hard.
“They are reorganizing crews and reorganizing planes in order to accommodate passengers, and the flight loads are exceptionally high during the summer travel season,” said Ana Dawson, CEO of Global Excellence Travel.
She’s been able to stay at her daughter’s place, but some like Storm Team 10 meteorologist Jason Doris aren’t so lucky.
He has been stuck in Seattle since Saturday, spending the first night there in the airport.
“The actual scene that was in baggage claim was just chaos, and disgusting and disheartening,” he said. “There was one bathroom for the hundreds of people that were still there.”
Hotels booked, bags nowhere in sight, and the cost of travel racking up .
“My dad and I spent about 45 minutes calling different hotels in and around the Seattle area,” Jason said. “They told us the closest hotel that has vacancy was about 80 miles away.”
Delta’s CEO did apologize for the situation and is offering passengers extra frequent flier miles.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is investigating Delta’s response.