Delta Calls CrowdStrike Outage ‘Unacceptable’

In a new filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Delta Airlines said it is pursuing legal claims against Microsoft and computer security firm CrowdStrike over a wave of flight cancellations initiated by a faulty CrowdStrike update last month.

“An operational disruption of this length and magnitude is unacceptable, and our customers and employees deserve better,” said Delta chief executive Ed Bastian in the filing.

The company has traded barbs with Microsoft and CrowdStrike following the disruption, which lasted for days at Delta even after other airlines appeared to have restored services.

In a separate letter to CrowdStrike, attorney David Boies, who is representing Delta, said the airline was “surprised and disappointed by CrowdStrike’s decision to try a ‘blame the victim’ defense”.

Blame game

“There is no basis – none – to suggest that Delta was in any way responsible for the faulty software that crashed systems around the world, including Delta’s,” he wrote.

He said Delta’s difficulties in coming restoring service was due to its reliance on Microsoft and CrowdStrike.

Attorney Mark Cheffo, a legal partner representing Microsoft, earlier wrote to Boies that Delta had “apparently has not modernised its IT infrastructure” unlike other airlines.

A CrowdStrike representative said Delta was promoting a “misleading narrative”.

“CrowdStrike and Delta’s teams worked closely together within hours of the incident,” the spokesperson said.

CrowdStrike’s faulty update triggered a worldwide outage – except in countries including China and Russia – that crashed an estimated 8.5 million Windows computers and disrupted airlines, banks, hospitals, emergency lines and business operations.

Flight disruption

Bastian has said the airline was facing a cost of up to $500 million (£392m) due to the cancellation of around 7,000 flights.

The Atlanta-based carrier is also facing an investigation from the US Department of Transportation and a class-action lawsuit over claims of poor customer service over compensation.

Bastian has blamed Microsoft and CrowdStrike for failing to deliver an “exceptional service” and alleged that Microsoft had the “most fragile platform”.

Microsoft and CrowdStrike have both said they would vigorously defend themselves if Delta takes legal action.

CrowdStrike has itself been sued by shareholders who allege the cybersecurity firm defrauded them by concealing inadequate software testing.