IT Outage Cost Delta Air Lines $500 Million
The massive computer disruption affected the airline’s crew-tracking system for nearly a week.
The massive July 19 computer outage at Delta disrupted the airline’s crew tracking system for nearly a week, according to the airline. [Courtesy: Delta Air Lines]
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian criticized cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and software provider Microsoft by noting that the recent IT outage cost the airline $500 million.
The massive July 19 computer outage at Delta disrupted the airline’s crew-tracking system for nearly a week, preventing the company from locating pilots and flight attendants to operate flights. As a result, Delta had to cancel some 30 percent of its flights.
Speaking to CNBC on Wednesday, Bastian said the carrier is prepared to pursue legal action.
“We have no choice,” Bastian said. “We’re not looking to wipe them out, but we’re looking to make certain that we get compensated, however they decide to, for what they cost us—half a billion dollars in five days.”
Bastian said Delta’s recovery was significantly hampered due to its heavy reliance on CrowdStrike and Microsoft for cybersecurity. The airline had to manually reset 40,000 servers to restore operations.
CNBC reported that Delta has engaged prominent New York City-based law firm Boies Schiller Flexner to seek damages from CrowdStrike and Microsoft.
Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on AVweb.
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