Delta Air Lines has announced that it is seeking at least $500 million in damages from CrowdStrike and Microsoft following a significant IT outage in July that led to widespread flight cancellations and substantial financial losses. According to a regulatory filing, Delta estimates the blackout caused a $380 million hit due to customer refunds and compensation, with an additional $170 million spent on recovery efforts, including operational costs related to the disrupted flights.
The outage, which resulted in the cancellation of 7,000 flights over five days, has led to a heated dispute between Delta and the two tech companies. Delta expressed its disappointment with CrowdStrike's response, particularly criticizing the company's suggestion that Delta bore some responsibility for the faulty software that caused the outage. Delta also took issue with the timing of CrowdStrike's assistance, stating that the company's offer of support came too late to prevent further complications. According to Delta, a second bug introduced by CrowdStrike’s attempted solution only exacerbated the situation, requiring additional manual intervention to restore operations.
CrowdStrike, however, defended its actions, stating that its team had been in contact with Delta within hours of the incident and had worked closely with Delta’s security team to provide technical support. The cybersecurity company pointed to public praise from a Delta board member as evidence of its effective response.
The three-way blame game involving Delta, CrowdStrike, and Microsoft continues to intensify as Delta moves forward with legal claims to recover the damages it incurred. Delta CEO Ed Bastian emphasized the company's intent to pursue these claims, arguing that the outage had a severe financial impact and required a substantial recovery effort.
As the legal battle unfolds, the case highlights the complexities and risks associated with reliance on technology in critical operations, especially in the airline industry, where even a brief disruption can have far-reaching consequences.