Delta Air Lines Breaks Its Silence on Widespread Problem Causing Delays

Between the massive snowstorm in the northeast, the current partial government shutdown, and the unrest in Mexico, airlines across the country have been dealing with a lot of issues over the past several days. However, a widespread technical issue seems to have been causing problems for Delta Air Lines on Monday.

As Delta continues to navigate the weather-related challenges and logistical challenges caused by unrest in Mexico, the airline had issues across its network on Monday, causing widespread flight delays.

Challenging Time for Air Travel

It has certainly not been an easy time for air travel in the United States, as the whole system has felt the strain of a few external factors all at once.

Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was impacted by a partial government shutdown when Congress did not agree on a plan to fund the agency. As this shutdown stretches on, it has put a strain on the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which is an arm of DHS, and could cause some key features of the agency to be temporarily suspended, resulting in inevitable delays at the airport.

Additionally, a massive snowstorm suddenly intensified over the weekend and slammed the northeast with more than two feet of snow in some areas. Obviously, the weather conditions caused major disruptions to air travel in the area, with New York City even issuing a full-on travel ban, and some airports are expecting delays well into the week.

Additionally, Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," was killed during a shoot-out in his home state of Jalisco as the Mexican military attempted to capture him on Sunday. As a result, cartel members blocked roads, set fire to vehicles, and caused widespread violence that has left dozens dead in attacks. This has led to a travel warning and dozens of flight cancellations.

Delta Experiences Technical Issues

In addition to all of these other challenges, Delta Air Lines experienced some technical issues on Monday that caused widespread delays.

A Delta spokesperson told CBS News that tools and systems used for its check-in kiosks were running slower than normal on Monday. As a result, agents were forced to check travelers in and board flights manually, which obviously takes significantly longer than automated procedures.

"A connectivity issue has been affecting some of the tools used by Delta people at gates and check-in during Sunday's operation. Delta has implemented several workarounds to minimize disruption and anticipates minimal impact to flights. No cancellations have occurred due to this issue," Delta said in a statement to CBS News.

Despite Delta's confidence that this would cause "minimal impact to flights," data from FlightAware obtained by CBS shows that the airline was experiencing a higher-than-normal percentage of delayed flights, with about 32% of the airline's mainline and regional flights experiencing delays on Monday, with nearly 1,100 mainline flights and another 236 at regional partner Endeavor running late.

Delta told CBS News that it was working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.