Delta: 'Technical issue' briefly grounds flights nationwide

Ben Mutzabaugh and Dustin Barnes, USA TODAY Network

Published 9:56 PM EDT Sep 25, 2018

A computer issue at Delta Air Lines forced the carrier to hold its domestic flights on the ground across the nation for more than an hour Tuesday.

Delta said in a 9:28 p.m. ET update that the issue had been resolved.

"Delta teams have restored all IT systems after a technology issue briefly affected some of our systems this evening," Delta's statement said. "All groundstops have been lifted."

Delta added its "employees are now working diligently to accommodate customers whose travel plans have been affected."

The company's website, check-in and mobile app operations should be functionally normally, the airline said, adding: "Customers should check flight information on delta.com or on the Fly Delta app for the latest operational information affecting their flights."

The incident delayed flights, but it was not immediately clear how many flights -- if any -- were canceled as a result of the glitch.

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As of 9:40 p.m. ET, flight-tracking service FlightAware showed had canceled only three flights but had delayed more than 660 -- about 20% of its total "mainline" operation.

It was not clear how many of those cancellations were directly tied to the glitch, though Delta typically has one of the best on-time rates of all U.S. carriers.

The first complaints about technical problems began surfacing on social media shortly before 8 p.m. ET.

During the roughly 90 minutes that flights were being held, Delta faced queries from delayed passengers about the problem. In response, Delta confirmed the technical issues were systemwide, with domestic flights on a "ground stop."

International flights were not affected, Delta said in its initial response.

Prior to the resolution, Delta confirmed the incident in a statement posted to its website.

"Delta IT teams are working diligently to address a technology issue impacting some of our systems," the company said. "We have issued a Delta groundstop as we work to bring systems back up as quickly as possible. There has been no disruption or safety issue with any Delta flight currently in the air. We apologize to all customers for this inconvenience. "

Dustin Barnes, of The Tennessean newspaper, reported from Nashville.

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