Elderly Delta customer endures airport ‘nightmare’ at DTW amid tech outage

Elderly grandma stranded at DTW amid global IT outage

"They gave her this little thin blanket to spend the night," the woman's granddaughter said. "They didn’t even offer her a bottle of water."

FOX 2 - As a result of the global tech outage, an 83-year-old grandmother was stuck at the Detroit Metro Airport (DTW) for two nights until she finally made it home to Florida Wednesday morning.

But Clara Nelson's journey was a "nightmare," her granddaughter, Judy Rockett, said.

"I’m not a professional transportation person, but it’s common sense – anytime something like that happens, you take care of the old people and the kids," Rockett told FOX 2.

Nelson was originally meant to fly out Monday morning. But instead, she was stranded at DTW until Wednesday.

"I’m so upset because, first of all, she got to the airport, and then I ordered a wheelchair for her. She was in the wheelchair, they took her down to the gate," Rockett said. "(She was) sitting there in the wheelchair and the people just left her."

Nelson was left alone for hours on Monday, her granddaughter says. Her flight was delayed and then canceled.

Nelson then spoke with a Delta agent for some assistance.

"And the person told her we don’t have any more food vouchers, there’s no more flights," Rockett said. "And she let them know that she needed to be on a straight-through flight. They told her she would not be able to get a flight out until this Friday."

Nelson, who wanted to get home to Florida already, was stranded in Detroit.

"They gave her this little thin blanket to spend the night, and she did spend the night in the airport – this little thin blanket," Rockett said. "They didn’t even offer her a bottle of water."

However, Rockett worked hard to get her grandmother where she needed to be. She called a travel agent, who found a seat for her on a plane scheduled to depart Wednesday morning instead of Friday.

So the granddaughter called Delta and was on the phone with agents for approximately five hours, she says, and was told that the ticket would cost $1,100.

"I said ‘I know you have a seat there and you’re asking $1,100 for that seat?’ I need my grandmother on that flight because she’s a heart patient, and she needs to be on that flight," Rockett said.

After a while, Delta waived the cost, Rockett said. And her grandmother got on the plane on Wednesday and returned home.

But now, Rockett is swearing off Delta for good.

"I’m not going to fly Delta anymore. I really am, truly am done with them – because that’s just wrong," she said. "As simple as that, it'just wrong."

Delta has posted on X that any meal or transportation expenses incurred can be eligible for reimbursement. To request a reimbursement and manage your trip disruption, click here.

The Department of Transportation is investigating Delta Air Lines over flight cancelations related to a global IT outage.

U.S. DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Tuesday morning that the agency is probing Delta to make sure the company is "following the law and taking care of its passengers during continued widespread disruptions."

Delta says it is cooperating with the investigation.