Delta and CrowdStrike at Odds Over July Outage Responsibility
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike (Nasdaq: CRWD) strongly refutes Delta Air Lines‘ (NYSE: DAL) claims regarding the July 19 global outage. The incident, caused by a faulty update, led to significant flight disruptions and financial losses for Delta.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian had previously said that the outage cost the airline $500 million and announced intentions to pursue legal action against CrowdStrike. However, CrowdStrike has responded through an external lawyer, expressing disappointment with Delta’s accusations and rejecting any allegations of gross negligence or misconduct.
The outage resulted in over 6,000 canceled flights over six days, affecting more than 500,000 passengers. This has prompted a US Transportation Department investigation into Delta’s prolonged recovery time compared to other airlines.
CrowdStrike maintains that its potential liability is contractually limited to a single-digit million-dollar amount. The company also revealed that it had promptly offered assistance to Delta following the incident, including a personal outreach from CrowdStrike’s CEO to Delta’s CEO, which reportedly received no response.
Delta has informed US lawmakers that the faulty update impacted over half of its computers across its network, necessitating manual recovery of its complex IT system. This system is crucial for data distribution and synchronization, including crew tracking and gating software.
In its defense, CrowdStrike has raised questions about why Delta’s competitors managed to restore operations more quickly under similar circumstances and why the airline declined offers of free onsite assistance from CrowdStrike professionals.
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