Like many companies worldwide, Delta was impacted on Friday morning by an outside vendor technology issue, which prompted us to pause flying while our systems were offline.

The pause in our operation resulted in more than 3,500 Delta and Delta Connection flights cancelled through Saturday. Cancellations continue on Sunday as Delta’s teams work to recover our systems and restore our operation. Canceling a flight is always a last resort, and something we don't take lightly.

The technology issue occurred on the busiest travel weekend of the summer, with our booked loads exceeding 90%, limiting our reaccommodation capabilities. I want to apologize to every one of you who have been impacted by these events. Delta is in the business of connecting the world, and we understand how difficult it can be when your travels are disrupted.

Please know that Delta’s entire team of the best professionals in the business have been working around the clock to safely get you where you need to go, and restore the reliable, on-time experience you've come to expect when you fly with us.

Specifically, the issue impacted the Microsoft Windows operating system. Delta has a significant number of applications that use that system, and in particular one of our crew tracking-related tools was affected and unable to effectively process the unprecedented number of changes triggered by the system shutdown. Our teams have been working around the clock to recover and restore full functionality.

We have issued a travel waiver to enable you to make a change to your itinerary at no charge. I encourage you to take advantage of that flexibility if possible. In addition, for those whose flights have been impacted, we continue to offer meal vouchers, hotel accommodations and transportation where available. And as a gesture of apology, we’re also providing impacted customers with Delta SkyMiles and travel vouchers. We will continue to keep you informed via delta.com and the Fly Delta app for the latest information on your itinerary.

I want to thank Delta’s employees, who have been working tirelessly across our system to restore our best-in-class operation and take care of you during a very challenging situation.

Thank you for your patience as we work through these issues, restore our operation and return to the reliability you expect from Delta.