Delta Air Lines (DAL) is officially being investigated by the Department of Transportation (DOT) over its response to Friday's global tech outage that caused the 澳洲🐬幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:cancell♎ation and delay of thousands of flights in recent days.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Tuesday morning that the agency will investigate Delta "to ensure the airline is following the law and taking care of its passengers during continued widespread disruptions."

How Delta Has Been Impacted

Delta has 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:remained the most heavily impacted of the major airlines, canceling over 460 flights by 12:30 p.m. ET Tuesday while competitors United (UAL) and American Airlines (AAL) had canceled 45 and 38 flights, respectively, according to data from the flight tracking website FlightAware.

The airline has said that 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Friday's outage, caused by💝 an update from security software provider CrowdStrike (CRWD) that impacted millions of devices running on Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows operating system, impacted one of Delta's tools that tracks crew schedules. The issues meant it has become increasingly difficult for Delta to ensure flights have a full crew for rescheduled flights, the company said.

Delta has also extended offers to help customers rebook their travel without incurring significant expenses through Tuesday as hundreds of flights are still being canceled.

What Could the DOT Investigation Do?

Buttigieg said in his posts on X on Tuesday that travelers are encouraged to inform 😼the DOT if they believe Delta has violated consumer protection laws.

In December, Southwest (LUV) was hit with a civil penalty of $140 million over the airline's handling of a 2022 winter storm that 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:caused nearly 17,000 flights to be can🀅celed. The DOT found that Southwest failed to provide "adequate customer service assistance," along with delays in providing flight status updates and refunds to customers.

Buttigieg said when the fine was announced that the penalty, 30 times larger than any previous one ever handed out by the DOT for consumer protection violations, should put all airlines "on notice" that they need to protect their passengers, or potentially face enforcement actions from the DOT.

Delta shares flat at $♒43.83 as of 12:30 p.m. ET Tuesday.