Airline customers were unable to book flights with several major U.S. airlines on Monday, including American, Delta and United Airlines.
When attempting to book a flight through the companies’ respective booking sites, the pages were unable to upload the available flights for the three airlines.
Responding to a customer who was struggling to book a flight, American Airlines tweeted: “Yes, we are aware that the site is down. We are working hard to solve these problems ”.
Yes, we are aware that the site is down. We are working hard to resolve these issues. Find us at DMs and we will help you.
– americanair (@AmericanAir) April 5, 2021
Both Delta and United also recognized on Twitter that their booking sites did not appear to be working as they should. The cause of the problems has not been determined.
Hello. I apologize, this is being resolved. Cammie
– Delta (@Delta) April 5, 2021
We appreciate your patience while our teams are working to resolve this. Call our teams if you need help, however, at 1-800-864-8331. ^ LT
– United Airlines (@united) April 5, 2021
Other major airlines in the United States, such as JetBlue and Southwest Airlines, do not appear to have been affected.
“Delta is involved with a third-party vendor that is currently solving a technical issue that is affecting customers’ ability to search for and book flights on Delta.com and the Fly Delta app. Delta customers can still check in for flights and use the platforms to search for other flight planning information. We apologize for the inconvenience, “said Delta in a statement provided to The Hill.
American Airlines also attributed the problems to a third-party supplier.
“We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience. There was no impact on flight operations and customers were still able to check in for flights through aa.com,” the airline said in a statement to The Hill.
A United Airlines spokesman said customers could still book flights via the airline’s telephone system. The spokesman was unable to say when the booking site will be up and running again, adding that the problem may be due to the Google flight system used by United.
A Google spokesman confirmed to The Hill that there is a “known problem” in the technology company’s flight system. They said that Google is working to implement a solution to the problem.
It is not clear whether American and Delta also use the Google Flights system.
The site’s problems appear a few days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new guideline that says it is safe for fully vaccinated people to travel by plane. The guidance would likely be a boon to the civil aviation industry, which has been heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
The CDC said that people traveling in the country do not need to be tested before boarding a flight, unless their destination requires a test. COVID-19 tests must still be done before international flights and the masks must still be used on planes, regardless of the vaccination status, said the CDC in its new guidelines.
Delta indicated a slight return to normal last week when it announced that it would slowly begin to reintroduce intermediate seats on its flights. The airline blocked intermediate seats when the pandemic started, in an attempt to provide better social distance on flights.
– Updated at 4:54 pm