IT Outage Cost Delta Air Lines $500 million

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian criticized cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and software provider Microsoft, noting that the 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% of its flights.

Speaking to CNBC on Wednesday, Bastian said the carrier is prepared to pursue legal action. “We have no choice. 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 company had to manually reset 40,000 servers to restore operations.

CNBC reported that Delta has engaged prominent law firm Boies Schiller Flexner to seek damages from CrowdStrike and Microsoft.