Delta Air Lines announced on Sunday that it has expanded its reinforcements in the Operations Center to manage the current IT outage. This includes additional crew schedulers who are available, as well as advancements in updating pilot information.

The recent disruption has crippled multiple systems at various airlines, including those required for flight dispatching, passenger check-in, and the operation of customer service centers. These widespread failures are not the first of their kind in the aviation industry, but their versatility and the extent of the impact are notable.

Delta's problems with crew management are reminiscent of the difficulties Southwest Airlines experienced at the end of 2022 after a severe winter storm. At that time, Southwest's crew reassignment system was overwhelmed, leading to a drastic reduction in the flight schedule to stabilize operations.

A similar incident occurred in 2017 with Delta, when thunderstorms in Atlanta caused thousands of flight cancellations. In response, Delta promised to strengthen its crew tracking team and expand capacities to avoid overloads in the future.

Delta has now taken additional steps to ensure that such incidents do not recur. These steps include strengthening the teams in the Operations Center and updating crucial information for the crew more quickly. These measures are intended to help ensure the smooth operation of flight operations and minimize the impact of disruptions.

The experiences from the past show how crucial a well-functioning crew management system is for the stability of flight operations. Delta and other airlines must continuously invest in their IT infrastructure to remain competitive in times of increasing complexity and challenges in the aviation sector.