Delta blames CrowdStrike for flight chaos in lawsuit

CrowdStrike faces legal action from Delta over a software failure blamed for $500 million in losses.

Delta revealed a new AI-powered assistant and in-flight upgrades, including free YouTube Premium for SkyMiles members.

Delta Air Lines has filed a lawsuit against CrowdStrike in Georgia, accusing the cybersecurity company of causing a global outage in July that disrupted travel for 1.3 million passengers. The airline claims a faulty software update forced by CrowdStrike led to the mass cancellation of 7,000 flights over five days, resulting in losses exceeding $500 million.

The airline alleges that CrowdStrike’s software update caused more than 8.5 million Microsoft Windows-based systems to crash worldwide, affecting multiple industries, including banks and healthcare. Delta insists that better testing could have prevented the failure, criticising CrowdStrike for deploying the update without adequate checks. The incident prompted an investigation by the US Transportation Department.

CrowdStrike has rejected Delta’s claims, calling them ‘misinformation’ and blaming the airline’s outdated IT infrastructure for the extended disruption. It also questioned why Delta was hit harder than other airlines, implying the carrier’s slow recovery reflected deeper internal issues rather than software faults alone.

Delta has been using CrowdStrike’s products since 2022 and argues that it has invested heavily in advanced technology for its operations. In its lawsuit, Delta seeks compensation for direct financial losses, lost profits, legal fees, and damage to its reputation, maintaining that CrowdStrike should be held accountable.