ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian is in Paris for the Summer Olympic Games after days of flight cancellations and delays in the wake of Friday's global cyber outage, according to multiple news outlets, including CNN and the Associated Press.
Delta is the airline sponsor for the U.S. Olympic team and the airline told the AP that he was meeting with business partners while in Paris.
“Ed delayed this long-planned business trip until he was confident the airline was firmly on the path to recovery," a Delta spokesperson told the AP in a statement. "As of Wednesday morning, Delta’s operations were returning to normal. Ed remains fully engaged with senior operations leaders.”
The Associated Press reports that Delta has canceled more than 6,500 flights since last Friday, which is more than any other airline.
11Alive crews have seen long lines and large luggage pileups at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport since last Friday.
On Wednesday, Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines issued a statement on Bastian's behalf apologizing to travelers for the continued travel disruptions while he's in Paris.
“While our initial efforts to stabilize the operations were difficult and frustratingly slow and complex, we have made good progress this week, and the worst impacts of the CrowdStrike-caused outage are clearly behind us,” Bastian said in the statement.
Bastian said Delta's delays and cancellations were down 50% on Tuesday compared to Monday, and he anticipates minimal cancellations on Wednesday. Bastian also said Thursday is expected to be a normal travel day, with the airline fully recovered and operating at its normal capacity.
"I know the last few days have been difficult. To our customers who were impacted, I want to thank you for your patience and apologize again for the disruption to your travel," the CEO added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
