Irked Delta wants answers on blackout

ATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines chief executive Ed Bastian said he found it "shocking" that it took nearly 12 hours to get the power back on at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport -- and he plans to seek compensation for the airline's lost revenue.

The stern comments from the head of Atlanta's largest airline signal that the crisis this week sparked discord between some of the Southeast's most powerful entities: Delta, the Georgia Power utility, Hartsfield-Jackson Airport and the city.

"It was a very difficult experience. And it was shocking, candidly, that it took so long to get the power back on," he said. "I know they worked hard to deliver, but to be out of power for almost 12 hours in unbelievable.

"We will certainly be seeking the opportunity to have a conversation, and then seek reimbursement. ... I don't know whose responsibility it is between the airport and Georgia Power, but we're going to have conversations with both of them," Bastian said.

He said the airline may have lost $25 million to $50 million of revenue as a result of the power loss that hit the world's busiest airport on Sunday. That doesn't include additional costs incurred by Delta, which canceled 1,400 flights and is reimbursing passengers for Sunday night hotel stays.

"We have a lot of people at the start of the business week that didn't take their trips" because of the blackout, Bastian said.

A spokesman for Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed's office responded: "We look forward to collaborating with our partners, including Delta Air Lines, to address Sunday's outage and identify measures to prevent future incidents."

While criticizing the limited information that trickled out from the city and the airport as the power failure progressed into multiple hours Sunday, Delta's chief also emphasized the importance of communication.

The airline has suffered through its own debacles leading to thousands of flight cancellations, including in the wake of a thunderstorm earlier this year and after a computer system failure last year.

"Having been there myself in a crisis, the most important thing is to stay visible, to let people know what you know, even if you don't have all the answers -- and to make certain you take responsibility," Bastian said. "We'll work aggressively on whatever fixes need to be installed to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Bastian said the airline wasn't able to tell its customers how long it might take to get the power back on "other than what Georgia Power was telling us -- because we didn't have responsibility for it."

Delta, the dominant airline at Hartsfield-Jackson, is also pushing for more information about the cause of the incident, including what backups failed. Bastian said when he talked to Georgia Power the day after the power failure, "they still didn't have all the answers."

Business on 12/21/2017

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