By Alison Sider

Flight disruptions at Delta Air Lines started to ease Sunday after a miserable start to the weekend for travelers.

Delta canceled 56 mainline flights as of midday Sunday according to FlightAware, down from 581 on Saturday. Including regional flights, about 2% of the airline's operations had been scrubbed Sunday compared with 15% on Saturday, according to data provider Anuvu.

The problems began Friday night when lightning, hail and reports of microbursts brought flights to a halt in Atlanta, throwing off operations at Delta's busiest hub.

Delta has apologized to customers and said it would reimburse certain expenses for those who have been directly affected. It also said it expected some disruption to linger throughout the weekend as the airline worked to restore its operations.

"When we fall short, we work around the clock to make it right," Delta Chief Customer Experience Officer Erik Snell wrote in a message.

With millions expected to descend on airports this week during the Fourth of July holiday, it is critical for the airline's operations to get back on track.

The storm's impact was severe. High winds forced most controllers to evacuate the airport's air-traffic-control tower, the Federal Aviation Administration said. More than 90 of Delta's Atlanta-bound flights had to divert to other airports that night. About 100 of its planes were inspected for hail damage.

With about 900 daily flights flowing through the hub, Delta is vulnerable to upsets in Atlanta, and problems there can radiate out to the rest of the U.S. Travelers whose flights were canceled have faced long waits for assistance and a dearth of seats to get them to their destinations.

Amber Takahashi was expecting a quick layover when she landed in Atlanta Friday evening, headed back to Washington, D.C., from Belize.

She ended up spending the night in the airport as flight after flight was canceled. Rental cars were sold out, bus and train tickets were impossible to get, and nearby hotel rooms were full. She waited hours on hold to speak to customer service or for assistance by chat in the airline's app.

"It was a fiasco," she said. "It's truly been insane here." She made it home Saturday night.

That wasn't the only headache for fliers during the busy summer travel weekend.

More thunderstorms hit airports along the East Coast Saturday afternoon, with delays piling up in Boston, New York City, Philadelphia, Washington and Florida. Airlines have scrapped more than 2,800 U.S. flights since Friday, according to FlightAware.

Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 29, 2025 12:59 ET (16:59 GMT)

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