Scott Darling and his wife drove their 17-year-old son, Asher, to the San Jose airport Sunday morning and walked him to the check-in counter. They were back in their car and driving out of the airport when they got a frantic call: Delta Air Lines wouldn’t let Asher check in because he wasn’t accompanied by a parent on the flight.
“I was puzzled,” Mr. Darling said. Asher had flown alone several times, he said, and “we were never informed of this.”
Delta Airlines was the slowest U.S. airline to restore operations, canceling more than 1,000 flights a day from Friday through Monday. More than 450 more had been canceled as of midday Tuesday, according to flight-tracking site FlightAware.
On Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said his agency was opening an investigation into Delta’s ongoing response “to ensure the airline is complying with the law and taking care of its passengers during the ongoing widespread disruptions.”
Delta has begun banning children under 18 from traveling without a guardian as it works to recover from Friday’s global technology outage that affected Microsoft users and systems around the world and forced airlines worldwide to suspend flights.
The suspension of travel for unaccompanied minors, a measure implemented with little notice, has left some children stranded across state lines or even in different countries, and has forced families to scramble to book last-minute flights on other airlines or arrange alternative transportation.
The Transportation Department said in an email that it was “extremely concerned” about reports of unaccompanied minors being stranded at airports. “We are seeking answers from Delta as part of our investigation and have made clear that we expect Delta to prioritize the safe and timely transportation of children to their destinations,” it said.
Some families, like the Darlings, said they weren’t informed of the change until their children were turned away at the check-in counter, and that Delta offered little support or assistance.
The suspension of travel, in addition to the airline’s continued cancellations and delays, has shaken the long-standing loyalty of some customers.
Delta had initially suspended travel for unaccompanied minors through Sunday, but the suspension was later extended through Tuesday. “Those already enrolled will not be able to travel. Please do not book new travel for unaccompanied minors during this time,” its website says.
In an emailed statement early Tuesday, Delta Air Lines said it implemented the suspension to “protect minors from separation from their families and caregivers in the event of flight disruptions or cancellations” following the outage.
“We take seriously the trust that chaperones place in us when their children travel and we sincerely apologize that this trust has been compromised by the confusion surrounding the embargo,” the statement said.
For many parents, especially those with young children, the situation is distressing.
Around 3 a.m. Tuesday, Patricia Starek was waiting at her Brooklyn home for news that her 12-year-old son was finally on his way to her after being stuck in Colorado for three more days.
Her son, Ellis, was visiting his sister in Boulder, on the first solo trip of his life and the longest time he has spent away from home, Starek said. He was supposed to return to New York on Saturday, she said, but Delta informed his sister on Friday that he would not be able to make it.
Delta said she could fly Monday when the suspension was lifted, she said. Then, when the suspension was extended, that day became Wednesday. She tried to speak to Delta customer service, she said, waiting hours on the phone, but was told nothing could be done.
On Monday, she gave up and scrambled to find a flight on another airline, eventually booking a JetBlue flight that evening for about $650, she said.
Even though Ellis was safe and living with his family who were caring for him, Starek said it was still painful to be separated from her son longer than she should have been while navigating a confusing and chaotic situation.
“It was a nightmare,” she said. “I can’t wait for him to be home.”
For some parents, like Jason Hewlett of South Jordan, Utah, whose 17-year-old son, Redford, was stranded in Montreal overnight, the experience has caused them to lose faith in an airline they had long trusted.
Redford was supposed to fly home Saturday after visiting family friends. But Delta offered him a flight on Monday, then told him the earliest he could take was Wednesday. But Redford was supposed to leave for a trip to Thailand on Tuesday.
His journey home took several days. Redford took an Air Canada flight Sunday from Montreal to Las Vegas, where his grandfather picked him up and drove two hours to his home in St. George, Utah. From there, Redford took a six-hour shuttle back to his home in South Jordan, Utah, where he arrived Monday afternoon.
Mr. Hewlett said he learned of the travel suspension through Delta’s app and that the airline did not proactively contact his family. He said he was only able to speak to a Delta representative by calling the phone line for Diamond Medallion members, the highest tier of the airline’s loyalty program, because no one answered the general phone line.
Tami Hewlett, Mr Hewlett’s wife, said the idea that the travel suspension was about protecting children, especially those on the return journey, was ridiculous. “All it does is leave them stranded,” Ms Hewlett said.
Similarly, Mr. Darling, who drove his son to the San Jose airport, said not being able to fly Delta put his son, Asher, in even greater danger.
After learning that Asher could not check in without a parent accompanying him, Mr. Darling purchased a refundable first-class ticket for himself, intending to use it to get Asher to the gate. At that point, he hoped that they could find an adult on the flight who could accompany him and that Mr. Darling would be able to refund the ticket.
They managed to find such a person, and Asher boarded the plane with that passenger. But when Mr. Darling tried to stay, he said, airline staff said Asher would not be allowed to fly unless Mr. Darling was also on board.
“I said, ‘He’s already on the plane, he’s with another adult who agreed to go with him, what’s going on?’ And they said, ‘It has to be family,'” Mr. Darling said.
Airline personnel removed Asher from the plane, Mr. Darling said. Mr. Darling and his wife booked him on another flight, on Southwest Airlines. The flight was scheduled to leave an hour later, bound for Los Angeles, where Asher was attending a pre-college summer program. But the plane landed at a different Los Angeles airport than the one where the program had scheduled to pick Asher up, and he had to take an Uber to an unfamiliar city, Mr. Darling said.
“They said they instituted this policy for Asher’s safety,” he said, “which I found quite comical.”
Christine Hauser contribution to the report.