Delta Seeks Outage Damages From Microsoft, CrowdStrike

Delta Air Lines plans to seek damages from both Microsoft and CrowdStrike after a malfunction caused millions of computers to crash, leading to thousands of flight cancellations.

CNBC reports Delta has hired attorney David Boies to sue both companies for damages. Theo outlet states, “The outages cost Delta an estimated $350 million to $500 million. Delta is dealing with over 176,000 refund or reimbursement requests after almost 7,000 flights were canceled.”

On July 19, a CrowdStrike software update crashed Microsoft systems. Many industries were sent offline, including the airline industry, which was faced with what CNBC called “widespread flight disruptions and service failures.”

Reuters reports that the outage linked to CrowdStrike’s “Falcon Sensor” software caused Microsoft Windows to crash. Customers faced a blue screen, which meant that their services were not working and their computers were subsequently inoperable. The update affected an estimated 8.5 million Windows devices, including many of Delta Air Lines’ servers and those of other airlines, leaving thousands of flights grounded.

This, in turn, led to thousands of people trying to contact their carriers regarding flight information and reimbursements. Many customers were left stranded and unable to change or refund their flights.

On July 24, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wrote on X of the incident, “Passengers have rights. The situation of Delta passengers stranded and unable to contact customer service is unacceptable. We’re opening an investigation into Delta’s handling of over 6,000 canceled flights since Friday.”

Passengers have rights. The situation of Delta passengers stranded and unable to contact customer service is unacceptable. We're opening an investigation into Delta's handling of over 6,000 canceled flights since Friday. https://t.co/DZu6Tg5kQz

— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) July 24, 2024

He subsequently followed up that statement by addressing the needs of passengers who spent thousands trying to rebook flights or paying for hotels until they could safely reach their destination. Buttigieg said, “Passengers have a right to a cash refund when a flight is canceled, not rebooked. Delta has also committed to reimbursing passengers for hotels during disruptions like this.”

In response to the incident, Microsoft shared a statement that downplayed the damage the update caused. It reads, “While software updates may occasionally cause disturbances, significant incidents like the CrowdStrike event are infrequent. We currently estimate that CrowdStrike’s update affected 8.5 million Windows devices, or less than one percent of all Windows machines. While the percentage was small, the broad economic and societal impacts reflect the use of CrowdStrike by enterprises that run many critical services.”