Delta blames power cut for worldwide flight delays

Passengers have been sharing photos of their experiences, like here at Heathrow

US airline giant Delta has blamed a power cut for its decision to suspend flights worldwide and leave hundreds of passengers stranded around the world.

A company statement said the outage caused its computer systems to crash. Delta now says the grounding of its flights has been lifted and planes will resume flights on a limited basis.

This was the scene at New York's LaGuardia Airport

But it has warned passengers due to fly still to expect delays and cancellations because of the knock-on effect of the earlier disruption. "[The] ground stop has been lifted & limited departures [are] resuming following power outage in Atlanta that impacted Delta computer systems," the company tweeted.


Delta ranks third in the world in terms of most passengers carried, according to industry body the IATA.
The airline has advised customers to check the status of their flight before heading to the airport while the issue is being addressed.

Inbound flights have not been affected. The overnight power failure took place in Atlanta, near Delta's headquarters, the company said.

London's Heathrow airport said: "Delta flights from Heathrow are experiencing delays due to the worldwide technical issue with their computer systems."

"Check-in is currently operating using a back-up system and airport staff are on hand to assist any passengers that are impacted by the delays."