Delta CEO wants someone to pay for losses in airport outage

The ticket counters are swamped with travelers in the North terminal on Monday Dec. 18, 2017 at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, the day after a massive power outage brought operations to halt. (John Spink/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

Alexis Canete rests on his luggage as he waits in the Delta ticket line to get back home to Cuba from his visit to Tennessee on Monday Dec. 18, 2017 at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, the day after a massive power outage brought operations to halt. Power was restored at the world's busiest airport after a massive outage Sunday afternoon that left planes and passengers stranded for hours, forced airlines to cancel more than 1,100 flights and created a logistical nightmare during the already-busy holiday travel season. (John Spink/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

In this May 12, 2016 file photo, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian poses for a portrait in his office at the company's headquarters in Atlanta. Bastian says the company will seek compensation for its losses after a power outage knocked out the Atlanta airport's power supply and also its backup electricity for about 11 hours Sunday, Dec. 17, 2017. The blackout stranded thousands of passengers and led to the cancellation of more than 1,500 flights just ahead of the frenzied holiday travel period. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

NEW YORK — The 11-hour system outage at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, the world’s busiest airport, cost Delta Air Lines up to $50 million, a Delta spokesman confirmed on Wednesday, and the carrier said it plans to seek compensation for its losses.

The extent of the power outage that began on Sunday at Delta’s most significant hub was first reported by the Atlanta Journal Constitution, following an interview with Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian.

Bastian told the paper that it was not yet clear where responsibility for the outage fell between the airport or its utility provider, but the carrier would be seeking reimbursement for the losses he estimated to be between $25 million and $50 million.

Georgia Power, the utility that provides electricity to the sprawling airport that is run by the city of Atlanta, has said the failure was linked to a fire in an underground facility that damaged substations serving Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The blaze, possibly started when a piece of gear failed, damaged access to a backup system, the company said.

Delta was forced to cancel some 1,400 flights as a result of the system failure.

The outage struck at the onset of one of the busiest travel periods of the year, as airlines typically have significantly more passengers traveling for the winter holiday season.

Industry trade group Airlines for America (A4A) had previously forecast that 51 million passengers would fly on U.S. airlines globally during the 21-day period from Dec. 15 to Jan. 4, up nearly 3.5 percent from the year prior.

Any losses during the busy period, including costs incurred refunding and rebooking passengers, could put a damper on carriers’ earlier projected fourth-quarter and full-year earnings.