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Delta Airlines is considering legal action against CrowdStrike following a global technology outage that led to major disruptions and financial losses.
Let’s bring you up to speed: The initial outage on July 19th, caused by a software update from CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm, affected multiple airlines globally, with Delta Airlines experiencing the most significant impact. The update crashed Windows software computers, leading to thousands of flight cancellations and delays. Although CrowdStrike quickly rolled out a fix, Delta’s recovery was slow. CrowdStrike argued that the prolonged disruption was due to Delta’s IT decisions and response, noting that other airlines were able to recover rapidly.
What Delta is saying: Despite CrowdStrike’s claims, Delta lawyers have threatened to sue CrowdStrike, claiming the company cost them $500 million in losses. During an interview on CNBC, CEO Ed Bastian said the company had “no choice” and would move forward with a lawsuit.
What CrowdStrike is saying: Michael Carlinsky, CrowdStrike’s lawyer, has reportedly argued that the company’s liability should be less than $10 million. He noted that other airlines affected by the same issue recovered more quickly, suggesting that Delta’s handling of the situation exacerbated the impact.
Microsoft chimes in: Microsoft, which Delta has also put some of the blame for the issues, said in a letter to Delta, “Microsoft empathizes with Delta and its customers regarding the impact of the CrowdStrike incident. But your letter and Delta’s public comments are incomplete, false, misleading, and damaging to Microsoft and its reputation. Even though Microsoft’s software had not caused the CrowdStrike incident, Microsoft immediately jumped in and offered to assist Delta at no charge following the July 19th outage. Each day that followed from July 19th through July 23rd, Microsoft employees repeated their offers to help Delta. Each time, Delta turned down Microsoft’s offers to help, even though Microsoft would not have charged Delta for this assistance.”