Ben Mutzabaugh

USA TODAY

Delta Air Lines continued to cancel flights Wednesday, though the carrier said normal flight operations could resume by Wednesday afternoon.

The airline had canceled more than 250 flights on Wednesday, part of its scramble to “reset” its operation following a Monday morning computer outage. The outage has snarled Delta’s flights ever since.

Despite Wednesday's cancellations, Delta said it was on track for a significant improvement by the end of the day. The airline said 80% of its flights departed on time through the first quarter of Wednesday's schedule.

In a statement from late Wednesday morning, Delta said it "anticipate(d) returning to a normal operation by afternoon Wednesday..., though scattered thunderstorms expected in the eastern U.S. may slow the recovery."

Wednesday’s lingering disruptions follow two brutal days for Delta’s flight operations. On Monday, when the outage first hit, the airline grounded more than 1,000 flights and delayed another 3,000. Delta operates about 6,000 flights on a typical summertime day. On Tuesday, Delta canceled another 775 flights and delayed even more.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian apologized twice to customers, posting videos on the carrier’s website on both Monday and Tuesday.

'This isn't who we are,' Delta CEO says as flight woes persist

“This isn’t the quality of service, the reliability that you've come to expect from Delta Air Lines," Bastian said in a statement posted to the airline's website on Tuesday. "We’re very sorry, I’m personally very sorry.”

In response to the ongoing disruptions, Delta has expanded a change-fee waiver for customers ticketed to travel between Monday and Wednesday.

The airline says fliers booked on those days' flights can make one change to their itineraries without paying the standard change fee, which ranges from $200 domestically to as much as $500 on some international itineraries. Delta says rebooked travel must be for flights no later than Aug 21. Initially, Delta said rebooked travel had to commence by Friday to qualify for the fee waiver.

Delta said it also will award $200 travel vouchers good for future travel on Delta to customers who have been hit with canceled flights or with delays of three hours or more.

TWITTER: You can follow me at twitter.com/TodayInTheSky