Scott Darling and his wife drove their 17-year-old son, Asher, to the San Jose airport on Sunday morning and saw him off at the check-in counter. They were back in the car and heading out of the airport when they got a frantic call: Delta Air Lines wouldn't let Asher check in because he didn't have a parent accompanying him on the flight.
“I was just baffled,” Darling said. Asher had flown solo several times, he said, and “we were never told about this.”
Delta has been the slowest U.S. carrier to restore operations, canceling more than 1,000 flights each day from Friday through Monday. Another 400 had been canceled as of 7 a.m. Tuesday, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. On Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said his agency was opening an investigation into Delta’s ongoing response “to ensure the airline is following the law and taking care of its passengers during the continued widespread disruptions.”
Delta has begun banning children under 18 from traveling without a guardian as it struggles to recover from Friday's global technology outage that affected Microsoft users and systems around the world and forced airlines worldwide to suspend flights.
The suspension of travel for unaccompanied minors, a measure implemented with little notice, left some children stranded across state lines or even in different countries, and left families scrambling to book last-minute flights on other airlines or arrange alternative transportation.
Some families, like the Darlings, said they were not notified of the change until their children were turned away at the check-in counter, and that Delta offered little support or assistance.
The suspension of flights, coupled with the airline's continued cancellations and delays, has shaken the long-standing loyalty of some customers.
Delta initially suspended travel for unaccompanied minors through Sunday, but the suspension was later extended through Tuesday. “Those who have already booked will not be able to travel. Please do not book new travel for unaccompanied minors during this time,” its website said.
In an emailed statement Tuesday morning, Delta Air Lines said it implemented the suspension to “protect minors from being separated from their families and caregivers in the event of flight disruptions or cancellations” following the outage.
“We take very seriously the trust that caregivers place in us through their children’s travel, and we sincerely apologize that that trust has been compromised due to the confusion surrounding the embargo,” the statement said.
For many parents, especially those with young children, the situation has been distressing.
At about 3 a.m. Tuesday, Patricia Starek was waiting in her Brooklyn home for news that her 12-year-old son was finally back with her after being stuck in Colorado for three more days.
Her son, Ellis, was visiting his sister in Boulder, his first solo trip and the longest time he had ever spent away from home, Starek said. He was scheduled to return to New York on Saturday, he said, but Delta informed his sister on Friday that he would not be able to make it.
Delta told her she could fly Monday when the suspension was lifted, she said. Then, when it was extended, that became Wednesday. She tried to reach Delta customer service, waiting hours on hold on the phone, she said, but was told nothing could be done.
On Monday, she gave up and scrambled to find a flight on another airline, eventually booking a JetBlue flight that night for about $650, she said.
Although Ellis was safe and with family caring for him, Ms Starek said she still found it distressing to be separated from her son for longer than she should have while navigating a confusing and chaotic situation.
“It was a total nightmare,” she said. “I can’t wait for him to come home.”
For some parents, like Jason Hewlett of South Jordan, Utah, whose 17-year-old son, Redford, was stranded in Montreal overnight, the experience has caused them to lose confidence in an airline they had long relied on.
Redford was supposed to return home on Saturday after visiting family friends, but Delta replaced him for a flight on Monday and then told him the earliest flight he could take was Wednesday. Redford was, however, supposed to leave for a trip to Thailand on Tuesday.
His trip home ended up being a multi-day journey. Redford flew on Sunday on an Air Canada flight from Montreal to Las Vegas, where his grandfather picked him up and drove two hours to his home in Saint George, Utah. From there, Redford took a six-hour shuttle bus to his home in South Jordan, Utah, where he arrived Monday afternoon.
Mr. Hewlett said he learned of the travel suspension by checking the Delta app and that the airline did not proactively reach out to his family. He added that he was able to speak to a Delta representative only by calling the exclusive phone line for Diamond Medallion members, the highest tier of the airline’s frequent-flyer program, after no one answered the general phone line.
Tami Hewlett, Hewlett’s wife, said the idea that the travel suspension protected children, especially those returning from their trips, was ridiculous. “All it’s doing is leaving them stranded,” Hewlett said.
Similarly, Mr. Darling, who took his son to the San Jose airport, said not being able to fly Delta put his son, Asher, at greater risk.
After being told that Asher could not check in without a parent accompanying him, Mr. Darling purchased a refundable first-class ticket for himself, intending to use it to get Asher to the gate. At that point, he hoped that they could find an adult on the flight who could accompany him and that Mr. Darling could refund his ticket.
They managed to find that person and Asher boarded the plane with that passenger. But when Darling tried to stay, the airline staff told him that they would not allow him to fly unless Darling was on the flight as well.
“I said, ‘He’s already on the plane, he’s with another adult who agreed to accompany him, what’s going on? ’ And they said, ‘It has to be a family member,’” Darling said.
Airline staff got Asher off the plane, Darling said. Darling and his wife booked him on another flight, on Southwest Airlines. It was to leave an hour later, bound for Los Angeles, where Asher would attend a summer pre-college program. But the plane landed at a different Los Angeles airport than the one the program had arranged to pick Asher up, and he had to take an Uber to an unfamiliar city, Darling said.
“They said they had instituted this policy for Asher’s safety,” he said, “which I found a little funny.”
