Editor's note: Several parts of this story were edited or removed after publication due to sensitive information and pending regulatory activity discussed during a Delta event that was not intended to be open to the media.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian is thrilled with his airline’s new partnership with Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and the prospect of flying nonstop to India again – as well as its first-ever flight to the Saudi capital of Riyadh (RUH) – as soon as possible.
That all came out in shockingly (and refreshingly) candid remarks during a roundtable discussion with local business community members in Minneapolis – as well as a subsequent “State of the Airport” event – on Thursday that Thrifty Traveler attended. Intentional or not, Bastian broke a lot of news about potential new international routes, new airline partnerships, and the next Delta One Lounge locations.
Take a look.
The ‘Crowdstrike Outage' Lingers
Delta executives have insisted they’re seeing no lingering impacts from the airline’s historic meltdown in July following a brief cybersecurity outage. But clearly, the pain from the so-called “CrowdStrike outage” is still there.
While almost every airline in the country was initially affected by that outage, it spiraled into a full-blown meltdown that lasted days for Delta … and Delta alone. In a five-day span, Delta canceled more than 5,500 flights – more than in all of 2018 and 2019 combined.
Despite those lopsided numbers, Bastian and other Delta executives have repeatedly put the blame squarely on CrowdStrike. Bastian continued that again on Thursday, referencing “the virus they infected us with” for Delta canceling flights long after other airlines recovered.
“I’m sick and tired of these big tech companies that run our life and then don’t take accountability for it,” Bastian said to applause during the State of the Airport event Thursday.
Read more: How Delta Repeatedly Bungled its Worst Meltdown Ever
Bastian and Delta have repeatedly said they went above and beyond to make things right with customers, spending $100 million to cover rental cars, hotels, meals, and even flights on other airlines. Add in the financial toll of doling out refunds and lost ticket revenue, and the meltdown cost Delta more than $500 million.
Delta has threatened to sue CrowdStrike in a bid to recoup those costs. While attorneys for the airline, CrowdStrike, and even Microsoft have exchanged several scathing letters, no lawsuit has been formally filed more than two months later.
“We’re going to fight hard to get that money back,” Bastian reiterated.
Nonstop Routes to India, Saudi Arabia & Beyond
The Airbus A350-900 is Delta’s flagship aircraft, covering its longest routes throughout Asia, Australia and South Africa, among others. But a larger variant of that plane, the Airbus A350-1000, is on the way. And it can fly even further.
Bastian confirmed Delta intends to use that aircraft to resume nonstop service to India – a country Delta hasn't flown to since the start of the pandemic. Between the distance of the flight and bans on flying through the airspace of both Russia and Iran, Delta can't make it to cities like Delhi (DEL) or Mumbai (BOM) today – at least not without heavily restricting passengers or cargo. But the Airbus A350-1000 can make it a reality, Bastian said.
“We really want to serve that market directly,” Bastian said during the roundtable event.
Delta's first Airbus A350-1000s are expected to arrive sometime late next year. That long-haul service from Delta is likely a linchpin for another development: Bastian said Thursday that Delta will soon announce a partnership with Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo.
Bastian did not share additional details about which routes to India the airline is considering nor what shape a pact with IndiGo would take. Later Thursday, he said customers can expect nonstops to India “within the next couple of years.”
That's not the only market Delta is targeting with its incoming long-haul jets.
The A350-1000 also plays into Delta's plans to commence nonstop flights to Riyadh (RUH) in conjunction with its new partnership with Riyadh Air. That partnership with a Saudi government-backed airline raised eyebrows given the longstanding concerns about Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses, including the murder of a Washington Post columnist in 2018.
Bastian made clear Delta sees Riyadh as a huge opportunity in an emerging tourism market.
“We all know Dubai … and its skyscrapers and all the luxuries, it looks like a very affluent part of the world,” Bastian said. “The city of Riyadh has three times the GDP as the city of Dubai has. That shows the opportunity there.”
Though it hasn’t operated a single flight yet, Bastian said Riyadh Air “is going to be the Gulf Carrier” – suggesting, without naming them, that it will eventually eclipse competitors like Emirates and Qatar Airways.
He also said the airline would use the Airbus A350-1000 to expand even “further into the Pacific” but didn’t mention specific destinations.
On SAS & New Routes to Scandinavia
As of Sept. 1, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) is now officially part of Delta’s Sky Team alliance. The ties between the two airlines are growing by the day.
After adding a nonstop to Atlanta (ATL) earlier this year, Scandinavian recently announced nonstop service between Seattle (SEA) and Copenhagen (CPH) will start next spring. Bastian thinks there’s room for more … including, perhaps, for Delta itself to start a route of its own from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP).
“I know this community has deep ties to that region of the world. Undoubtedly, you're going to see Delta flying with (SAS's) support on the other side. We're excited about it,” Bastian said.
SAS itself has already suggested that they'll put Minneapolis on their map, swapping their current flights to the United hub of Washington, D.C.-Dulles (IAD) to Delta's Midwestern stronghold instead. But that route hasn't materialized just yet.
“I'm sure they're interested in adding service,” Bastian said. “We'll be very interested in our own service as well.”
Bastian reiterated his goal of pulling the airline into their transatlantic joint venture with Air France, KLM, and Virgin Atlantic – a critical move that would allow them to closely coordinate both flight schedules and airfare pricing.
Future Delta One Lounge Locations?
Years after competitors offered exclusive business class lounges for top-paying passengers, Delta finally opened its first Delta One lounge in New York City (JFK) this past summer. More are coming fast.
A second Delta One Lounge will open in Los Angeles (LAX) on Oct. 10, the airline confirmed this week. A third is on tap in Boston (BOS) later this year while a fourth is planned for Seattle (SEA).
Bastian made clear that Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) is on the shortlist.
“We're working on it because I think this market needs a Delta One lounge,” Bastian said.
Bastian provided no timeline for when a Delta One Lounge in Minneapolis might be in the cards. Delta opened a stellar new Minneapolis Sky Club just over a year ago, which travelers (including yours truly) love. But that lounge lacks some of the extra-special amenities that set Delta One Lounges apart, like a sit-down restaurant and even shower suites.
The two hardest parts of building any lounge are finding the precious square footage in the cutthroat airport real estate market … and then dealing with the supply chain constraints to actually build it. Safe to say, a Delta One Lounge in Minneapolis – or other Delta hubs, for that matter – could be a year or more away.
I’ll believe the MSP investments when they are actually complete. As a recent Strib article highlighted, despite its place in the larger network MSP is often treated as last in receiving investments. I think that will continue to be true as long as there is insufficient competition at MSP and Delta continues to coast on its presence here as a fortress hub.
“‘Technology providers knock us out and then it’s our fault?’ Bastian said.”
Uh, yes, actually. Airlines are responsible for their suppliers including technology providers. They can choose robust ones or lowest cost ones. They can have a robust IT staff and testing processes, or crappy ones. Just because you outsource something instead of doing it in-house does not absolve you of responsibility. If they are not responsible for their decisions, who is?
If you are “…sick and tired of these big tech companies that run our life and then don’t take accountability for it…” then do something about it. In the meantime you are not absolved from running your business.
Just this alone makes me not want to file Delta.
Insults, finger pointing, and bragging. That’s Delta for you these days. I’m surprised Bastian didn’t regale us with some anecdotes about his Olympic trip where he ditched his airline during a crisis to go on vacation. Remember back when Delta used to care about things like keeping loyal customers happy instead of throwing their weight around?
Exactly. Delta botches its service recovery following the Crowdstrike issue, with disruptions lasting days longer than its competitors, and he has the nerve to say people were mad at airports and on the phone because DOT said that the airline had to compensate customers. Unbelievable.
Delta has been extracting a revenue premium by convincing America that it’s the “premium” option, but now that UA is on their heels, they are in for a real challenge with an antiquated fleet, an incredibly subpar global and alliance network and the most inconsistent long haul premium cabins of the big 3.