Update: as of 9:30pm ET, Delta said in an advisory that the ground stop has been lifted.
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One week after United Continental was forced to ground its flights for nearly three hours due to a computer failure, on Sunday around 7pm Eastern, Delta Air Lines - the second-largest US airline - halted all U.S. flights because of another technology glitch.
Can confirm. Stuck on the tarmac at MSP ???? https://t.co/xSOvNIql6U
— Thrifty Traveler (@thriftytraveler) January 30, 2017
Still no real info from @delta as we are counting down over two hours since the screeching ground halt. #infosec pic.twitter.com/JOzvIw8tu8
— Michael J Daugherty (@DaughertyMJ) January 30, 2017
#BREAKINGNEWS #Delta update. Ground stop in effect until at least 8:30p EST Captain added this could be an extensive #deltaoutage pic.twitter.com/G94a4uKrcK
— Craig Lucie (@CraigLucie) January 30, 2017
http://up.anv.bz/latest/anvload.html
"Our systems are down," Delta tweeted, adding "the IT department is working to rectify the situation as soon as possible," said Atlanta-based Delta.
Delta teams are working to fix a systems outage that has resulted in departure delays. Flights in the air remain unaffected.
— Delta (@Delta) January 30, 2017
Delta apologizes to customers for the inconvenience and will provide updates as they become available on https://t.co/QS4ugj8hOa.
— Delta (@Delta) January 30, 2017
The company's international flights are exempt from the grounding, which was caused by “automation issues,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
The second consecutive froced grounding at Delta struck as airlines struggled to comply with new travel restrictions following President Trump’s executive order blocking travelers from seven predominantly Muslim nations. As Bloomberg adds, last year, a rash of computer failures disrupted flight operations at U.S. airlines. Thousands of passengers were stranded as carriers struggled to keep older information systems working.
Delta took a $100 million hit to sales after a power-control module at the company’s Atlanta command center caught fire in August, cutting power to computers. Southwest Airlines Co. had to halt flights the month before that because of issues with “multiple technology systems.”
Ground stops, as the FAA calls them, are relatively common reactions to thunderstorms and other disruptions in the U.S. aviation system. They are typically short-lived and narrowly drawn, such as halting departures to a congested airport for an hour or two.
Nearly two hours after the FAA first notified about the ground halt, Delta still has to resolve the system outage.