Delta flight delays hits home

[fotoguzzi]

My Daughter has been stuck in Miami International all day. first they cancelled her flight home yesterday. Then the BF got his flight bright and early back to AZ..so she's been cancelled and rebooked all day with a slew of other people she doesn't know.. still doesn't know if they will get her out tonight and then there's a connection to miss at ATL..  Thhe agents don't sound very comforting, something about not having a pilot.
and she's missing work and they are not happy either..
Talked to her in tears and full out crying, tough for a dad to hear..
all this for a few Baseball games, the Twins of all the loosers you could pick!
and her ID was stolen at the game! I guess she has another picture ID so got thru airport OK.
I asked if Delta would get her a hotel but she didn't know.

anyway, just had to vent..

[Gliderjohn]

Things like this is what puts the capital F in Frustration.
GliderJohn

[Stormtruck2]

Sorry to hear all this.  Very tough for a dad to hear his little girl cry. (No matter how old she is, she will always be his little girl).  She will get home soon, and hate the Twins now because of this little episode.  ;)

[fotoguzzi]

Sorry to hear all this.  Very tough for a dad to hear his little girl cry. (No matter how old she is, she will always be his little girl).  She will get home soon, and hate the Twins now because of this little episode.  ;)

or the BF, I was hoping..

[oldbike54]

 Are there not other airlines operating out of Miami ?

 Dusty

[Lannis]

Things like this is what puts the capital F in Frustration.
GliderJohn

It IS frustrating.   Just goes to show, though, how delicate this whole system is ... airlines, distribution systems, power grid, financial systems.   Lose a few servers for a while and it all folds up ...

In this case, nothing to do but stretch out on your luggage and wait ...

Lannis

[fotoguzzi]

Are there not other airlines operating out of Miami ?

 Dusty

yeah, looks like we about to miss the last AA flight of the night, she's not answering me.

[ITSec]

What's really incredible about Delta's problem is that it was due to a power failure at their Atlanta data center.

Now, in IT we've been doing business continuity for a while now, and power is probably the best understood, best protected, and least vulnerable thing in a data center. You have two or more separate supply lines coming in, preferably in different areas of the building. You have battery backups for short-term power supply, supporting all critical systems (both computers and network gear). You have a diesel generator with somewhere between 36-72 hours worth of fuel that can come online before the batteries are more than 40% discharged. And you have a standing procedure for testing all this on a regular basis.

There's no excuse for this. Heads should roll in IT - in Internal Audit (who should have caught the problem with lack of testing) - in physical plant management - and in the complacent executives who allowed the people under them to skate by until disaster happened. Shareholders should raise some very pointed questions - customers and regulators already are.

[Lannis]

What's really incredible about Delta's problem is that it was due to a power failure at their Atlanta data center.

........ And you have a standing procedure for testing all this on a regular basis.

There's no excuse for this. Heads should roll in IT - in Internal Audit (who should have caught the problem with lack of testing) -

 :1: to all that.   The news says that the "switchgear" that was supposed to switch over to the UPS system upon power failure "failed".    It would be interesting to see when the last time was they tested it  ...

Lannis

[Two Checks]

Another reason to not fly commercially.

[fotoguzzi]

Picked her up at 2:30 am and she's home now. after 22 hours in airports.

[oldbike54]

Picked her up at 2:30 am and she's home now. after 22 hours in airports.

  22 hours in airports , I would need (more) professional help 

  Dusty

[Lannis]

Another reason to not fly commercially.

Not many ways to get to the nice rides and rallies in the UK and Europe if you don't fly ....

.... and not many ways to "get to work" if you have to be places in less time that it takes to drive.

We used to fight to get on the "charter" plane at work, rather than fly commercial.   Drive to the FBO office at the airport, walk straight onto a corporate jet already stocked with food and coffee, sink back in the wide leather seat, fly STRAIGHT to your destination in an hour or two, and 10 minutes after landing you're on the job.  2 hours door to door rather than the 8 that TSA and the airlines bring you .... Expensive, though.

Lannis

[brightonguzzi]

foto - I feel your pain!

My daughter was flying to NYC with Delta and then on to Cincinnati for work, her first time to the States and she's only 21. 8 hour delay at London Heathrow, plane eventually leaves to JFK. Internal flight from JFK cancelled so they send her to LaGuardia, yet more delays.

She eventually arrives in Cincinnati 24 hours behind schedule.

Delta offered her £200.00 compensation.

Shit happens but its not nice when it happens to one of your kids....

[Dilliw]

I flew on Tuesday and it was a mess out there.  I usually book my flight through MSP on Delta but luckily I decided to visit my sister in Portland this trip and for that destination AA was better.  Saved some serious headache!  But even AA had problems trying to move all the stranded Delta passengers and I felt sorry for all the standby's at the gates.

[jas67]

DELTA:

Don't
Ever
Leave
The
Airport

[tpeever]

Was delayed 5 hours in Seattle on a Delta flight on Sunday. Put us on the plane on time, had to do a complete power down and reboot of some sort, sat there for an hour. Finally decided to take us back off the plane and spent the next 4 hours in the gate area. Back on the same plane with claims of "the problem has been fixed". Another electrical reboot, one passenger freaks out and demands to get off the plane yelling at the crew, the maintenance workers, asking them if they know what they are doing etc. Real shit show. Delayed us another 15 minutes while they removed the a-hole's luggage. Sure made me wonder about the airworthiness of the Embrarer 170 but my pilot friend assures me that the "jungle jet" is just fine. Hmmmm. So after finally taking off 5 hours late, a perfectly uneventful ride into San Francisco. Flying is fun!!

[Two Checks]

Are you fin' to raise up and get your travel on? Chuck it. Peep Delta.....

[wavedog]

Glad that your daughter made it OK. The delays are very frustrating. In June I got stuck in Syracuse, NY for a couple of extra days. The part that got me was that if I paid extra money I could get out earlier than if I just waited for the airline to get me on a flight. That smelled just wrong to me.
 When I was involved in aviation there was a saying - Time to spare, go by air.

[rodekyll]

What's really incredible about Delta's problem is that it was due to a power failure at their Atlanta data center.

Now, in IT we've been doing business continuity for a while now, and power is probably the best understood, best protected, and least vulnerable thing in a data center. You have two or more separate supply lines coming in, preferably in different areas of the building. You have battery backups for short-term power supply, supporting all critical systems (both computers and network gear). You have a diesel generator with somewhere between 36-72 hours worth of fuel that can come online before the batteries are more than 40% discharged. And you have a standing procedure for testing all this on a regular basis.

There's no excuse for this. Heads should roll in IT - in Internal Audit (who should have caught the problem with lack of testing) - in physical plant management - and in the complacent executives who allowed the people under them to skate by until disaster happened. Shareholders should raise some very pointed questions - customers and regulators already are.

Yeah -- something stinks abut their excuse.  Like you said, there are two redundant systems consisting of redundant systems.  Power should NEVER be an issue.  And I'm betting it wasn't.  I'm betting there's been a hack of such proportions and consequence that they've been instructed to pull the stops on damage control to cover it up.  It's got to be really huge if IT is willing to toss out the (unforgivable and implausible) power failure excuse -- which as you say should roll some heads --  instead of what's REALLY going on.  And I think what's really going on is they got a broadside from the bad guys in the ongoing WWC (World War Cyber).

[ITSec]

Yeah -- something stinks abut their excuse.  Like you said, there are two redundant systems consisting of redundant systems.  Power should NEVER be an issue.  And I'm betting it wasn't.  I'm betting there's been a hack of such proportions and consequence that they've been instructed to pull the stops on damage control to cover it up.  It's got to be really huge if IT is willing to toss out the (unforgivable and implausible) power failure excuse -- which as you say should roll some heads --  instead of what's REALLY going on.  And I think what's really going on is they got a broadside from the bad guys in the ongoing WWC (World War Cyber).

Actually, as a computer security guy (with lumped in responsibility for disaster recovery / business continuity) I don't think it was a hack. The power company actually made a statement about the failure of their gear external to the data center (but they don't guarantee interruption-free service, it's up to the customer to look after bridging those interruptions).

I have seen far too many companies that should know better and do better who have simply cut corners or failed to do what they knew they should to protect their systems from simple stupid vulnerabilities and failures. Professionalism and my obligations for confidentiality prevent my naming them, but simply said, there are a lot of companies out there that know what they need to do - and don't do it. It leaves them open to failures in service due to both accidental or mechanical failures, and to intentional attacks; and since we depend on them for important services, we're vulnerable to their poor decisions as well.

[John A]

true story from when I was in that industry. Northwest was running short of pilots after one of their labor disputes. A DC10 with a full compliment of passengers was getting ready for a push back when a crew bus pulled up and a couple of geezers got out with white canes! the passengers of course questioned this fully and were told this was their most experienced crew and were a team, both of them almost legally blind , but very safe. They were pushed back and took the active runway for departure. The engines spooled up and they started rolling, the passengers getting more vocal with their concerns. Faster and faster they went until the passengers started screaming, the jet rotated and smoothly lifted off. The pilot in command looked over at his copilot and asked "Do you ever worry that someday they'll scream too late?"

[poorBob]

Actually, as a computer security guy (with lumped in responsibility for disaster recovery / business continuity) I don't think it was a hack. The power company actually made a statement about the failure of their gear external to the data center (but they don't guarantee interruption-free service, it's up to the customer to look after bridging those interruptions).

I have seen far too many companies that should know better and do better who have simply cut corners or failed to do what they knew they should to protect their systems from simple stupid vulnerabilities and failures. Professionalism and my obligations for confidentiality prevent my naming them, but simply said, there are a lot of companies out there that know what they need to do - and don't do it. It leaves them open to failures in service due to both accidental or mechanical failures, and to intentional attacks; and since we depend on them for important services, we're vulnerable to their poor decisions as well.

My wife told me that in addition to the CEO's video apology, she saw one from an Indian gentleman who identified himself as having the title of something with technology in it and apologized for new code not being compatible with old code. I have been unable to find that particular video apology. Today on Indeed.com, there is a job opening for Director - QA and Testing for Delta Air Lines. I applied.

[Nic in Western NYS]

or the BF, I was hoping..

Any silver lining?  Like she blames the BF?