Tech outage continues to impact travelers with Delta, Spirit airlines

ROMULUS, Mich. (FOX 2) - Days into the global tech outage, caused by a faulty software update last week, travelers are getting increasingly more and more frustrated – especially Delta Air Lines customers.

Delta appears to be one of the airlines most impacted by the outage, which began on Friday, July 19. The airline is struggling to resume normal services and is still dealing with multiple delays and cancelations as of Tuesday.

"Don't get too close to me. I've been wearing these clothes since Saturday," Sarah Thomas, a Delta passenger, said while being interviewed by FOX 2. 

Thomas’ bags made it home to San Fransisco, but she’s still stuck at the Detroit Metro Airport (DTW). 

"I thought about everything from hitchhiking to flying to Frankfurt," she said. "You just feel like you're alone."

And Thomas means Frankfurt, Germany, which speaks to the desperation.

There is now a massive baggage graveyard at the Delta terminal – many have left their bags behind after waiting for them for hours, while others are still stuck somewhere their bags are not. 

"I feel very unlucky to have been caught in this, sort of, Delta apocalypse of 2024," Thomas said.

However, Spirit Airlines passengers have also been having a hard time during the tech outage.

"It was the worst airport experience that I’ve ever had in my life, (and) I’m not a spring chicken," said Karen Lelonek, a Spirit customer from Newark.

Lelonek is wheelchair bound, and she has been stuck in her wheelchair twice now during her trip – once at LAX and again at DTW, for a day and a half each time.

After her flight to Newark got canceled five times, she took a flight to Detroit.

"I have nothing to do with Detroit, I’m sure it’s lovely. I have nothing to do with Detroit, but… it’s east of LA, that’s good," Lelonek said.

Delta abruptly halted its unaccompanied minor program, bumping children off flights. 

Travel agents can barely keep up. Pioneer Travel says the worst call they got so far was regarding three siblings, all minors, who are still stranded in Boston, trying to get to Florida.

"Of course, the parents are freaking out as far as what they're going to do. There were no flights to Fort Lauderdale, down to Miami," said Mike Edic with Pioneer Travel. "Just with the staffing, with the cancelations, with everything else – they just couldn't afford to have unaccompanied minors flying on their own right now."

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

Delta’s cancelations are trending down – at about 500 canceled out of 5,000 flights on Tuesday. But total resolve could take days, even weeks.

If you're flying during this time, try to only bring carry-on luggage and avoid checking in bags. Also, try to arrive and check in early.

Arrive at the airport "at least three hours before flight time," said Susie Sliva with Departure Travel Management.

Consider getting a travel agent involved next time as well.

"We have numbers that we can get through to the airlines. We're professionals," Sliva said.

The FOX TV Digital Team contributed to this report.