Delta Airlines Issues Apology To Passengers Over Outage

Above, a Delta jet at the Twin Falls, Idaho airport. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Next month, I am to go with a friend on a cruise to the Bahamas. The package includes flights to and from Miami via Delta Airlines.

Currently, Delta and other airlines are canceling flights. This is fallout from a massive IT outage that took place last Friday.

According to ABC News:

Delta apologized for its widespread cancellations and delays over the last several days, issuing a new message Wednesday to customers affected by the fallout from the global IT outage last Friday.

The airline also says it plans to issue 10,000 bonus miles and offers to reimburse "reasonable expenses."

“Please accept our sincere apologies for the disruption to your recent travel plans caused by a vendor technology outage affecting airlines and companies worldwide,” the airline said. “Delta teams have been working tirelessly to restore our operation to get our customers safely to their final destinations. We understand that unexpected disruptions like this are difficult for everyone and do not reflect the operational reliability and experience you have come to know and expect from us.”

Delta also said that if passengers incurred “any hotel, meal, or transportation expenses while in transit resulting from this flight disruption,” they may submit a claim to the airline for a reasonable expenses reimbursement.

“Please note that we do not reimburse prepaid expenses, including but not limited to hotel reservations at your destination, vacation experiences, lost wages, concerts, or other tickets,” Delta said.  

Thousands of flights were canceled in the U.S. after American Airlines, United and Delta asked the FAA for global ground stop on all flights.

We are keeping an eye on further developments along with weather conditions. After all, we're in hurricane season.

To read more, go here. 

Internet Went Down

Above, fired up the barbecue today. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

When the Internet goes down, it is interesting to see how dependent we are when we can't use it.

This was the case all day yesterday and most of today. I was told yesterday that the problem stretched from Gallup to the west (18 miles) to Thoreau to the east (15 miles). At least that's what the State Police told me yesterday.

Above, enjoying an Alien Amber Ale while the meat was cooking.

This started around 8:30 yesterday morning when we had a 5-10 minute power outage. I don't know if this was related, but the Internet here went down at the same time.

This affected businesses as they couldn't process credit cards. People had to pay for gasoline with cash. 

So far, it seems to be working. 

In the meantime, I barbecued some cheeseburgers today. It is around 80° outside. 

Cut Fiber Optic Line Caused Yesterday's Outage

Now we know why there was a cellular and Internet outage yesterday in Gallup and McKinley County yesterday.

According to the Gallup Police Department:

CELL AND TELEPHONE OUTAGE

We are aware of a cellular telephone and landline telephone outage. This appears to be affecting most, if not all, of McKinley County. If you are in Gallup and have an emergency, please go to your nearest Gallup Fire Department station.

Local government officials are gathering to coordinate a response. We will release more information as it becomes available.

UPDATE AT 1:30PM

We have learned that the cell/telephone outage is due to a fiber optic line that has been cut near Laguna, New Mexico. This is primarily affecting CenturyLink customers. Local cellular towers rely on CenturyLink for their "backbone", which is why most local cellular services are mostly down. This outage is also affecting Grants, NM.

Depending on your cellular provider, you may or may not be able to contact 911. If you have an emergency, you are encouraged to go to the nearest Gallup Fire Department station.

PLEASE DO NOT CALL 911 IF YOU DO NOT HAVE AN EMERGENCY. Metro Dispatch is aware that cellular services are out.

Internet Back On

Above, good thing I had some cash on me when I went to BJ's Kountry Store. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Internet was down for most of yesterday in Gallup area of McKinley County in New Mexico. I don't know what the problem was, but I first learned of it around noon while doing some grocery shopping at BJ's Kountry Store in Thoreau. 

ATMs, card purchase machines and other things that rely on the Internet were not working. Luckily, I had some cash on me and bought what I needed to get by.

It briefly came back on last evening, but blinked out again. I went to bed early. I woke up to find it up and running and with over 120 emails waiting in my In Box. Most of them were junk emails.

Later today, I will be headed to Albuquerque to catch my early morning flight to Los Angeles on Friday for the 50ish Hawthorne High School Reunion. I will be meeting up with Mitch Geriminsky and Dwight Kuntz at the hotel near LAX. The reunion will be held in next-door El Segundo. This will be the first time I'll be stepping foot in L.A. since I moved to New Mexico four and a half years ago.

I spent yesterday, since there was no Internet to use, doing laundry and packing. It was just as well for it rained in the late afternoon and evening.

Problems, Problems

After about 45-50 minutes of a lack of Wi-fi signals to my computer and phone, the Internet came back on. 

It came on and immediately received the below alert:

My Message app came on with word from one of our Jamestown coffee group saying he is going under the knife this morning (about 20 min. from now). Some cancer has been found in his bladder. Our thoughts and prayers are going out to him. I'd rather deal with Internet problems than with that.

Back To Normal

Above, all's normal in Jamestown and Gallup. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Since the Internet was down in the region yesterday (I heard from a neighbor that someone cut the lines near Farmington, New Mexico), I have to go back into Gallup today to pick up some groceries at the market. Thank goodness I had enough food for dinner last night and gasoline to get back home.

The outage affected all ATMs and businesses' ability to process credit and debit cards, so they were only able to take only cash for purchases. I joked with the market clerk that I only have $2.00 on me and I'd be willing to pay for everything with that. He didn't go for it.

I wonder how many people who were low on gasoline had to sit and wait it out for their cards to work at the gasoline pumps again if they had no cash on them.

I did attempt to find out what happened. I called AT & T to see if they knew what caused the outage, but they had no information on it.

Everything seems normal now since the Internet went back up last night at around 8:00. It is amazing how everything grinds to a halt when cables are cut.

Network Down Today!

Cell phones along with Internet service were down for most of today in New Mexico.

I noticed the problem around noon as I was grocery shopping in Gallup. The market could only accept cash for purchases. The ATM in the store was also down. They told me this problem was "everywhere".

I left the store and went up old Route 66 to a gas station as The Beast had less than a quarter of a tank of gas. The gas pump wouldn't work with both my credit and debit cards. Their ATM was down also.

I knew I had enough to get back to Jamestown. I decided to give the Flying J a try (figuring they may be on a different system than those in Gallup). When I got there, they had a sign at each gas pump that the Internet was down and they could only accept cash.

Cell service was restored at least by 2:00 this afternoon. But Internet service remained down until around 8:00 this evening.

I am sure a lot of businesses lost a lot of money by being unable to process credit and debit cards today. It is amazing to see how much we rely on Internet service. Maybe we rely too much on it!