Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines is bringing in the big dog to try to recoup the upwards of $500 million the company lost as a result of the CrowdStrike and Microsoft outage that occurred on July 19.
David Boies, a high-profile attorney and chairman of Boies Schiller Flexner, will help Delta pursue damages from both CrowdStrike and Microsoft for their failure to keep the company's computers functioning as needed, which resulted in thousands of flight cancellations and lots of chaos.
CrowdStrike's share price plunged by five percent in extended trading after Delta's hiring of Boies went public. Microsoft's share price remained roughly the same as it was prior.
In the immediate aftermath of the outage, which is being blamed on a faulty Windows kernel level software update, CrowdStrike lost nearly 25 percent of its value over the course of two trading days.
Numerous industries were impacted by the outage, most notably airlines like Delta. The Department of Transportation (DOT) has since launched an investigation into Delta, which was hit especially hard by the outage.
In a seven-part X thread aimed at angry customers who were not able to fly, Delta explained the available options for recouping losses caused by the outage:
"We know many incurred unplanned travel expenses from the outage, including purchasing tickets on other airlines, rental cars, train tickets & more," the company said. "We will reimburse reasonable costs for some additional categories of expenses incurred during 7/19-28."
"We've extended the travel waiver for customers with travel booked 7/19-28. This offers the ability to make a one-time change to their itinerary. The fare difference will be waived when travel occurs on or before Aug 4."
Teams across our network have worked to return our reliability to normal. We're committed to caring for our customers during this time & have taken a number of steps to make things right for those affected. 1/7
— Delta (@Delta) July 26, 2024
(Related: Grocery stores and other retailers across the UK could only accept cash during the CrowdStrike blackout.)
Fortune 500 companies lost $5.4 billion from CrowdStrike outage
While not technically a lawsuit – at least not yet – Delta's pursuit of compensation aims to recoup the funds needed to deal with the more than 176,000 refunds and reimbursements requests that were made after nearly 7,000 flights had to be canceled.
Boies, who is well known for representing the U.S. government in its landmark antitrust case against Microsoft – Boies also helped overturn California's ban on homosexual "marriage" – also worked with imprisoned former Hollywood mogul and pervert Harvey Weinstein, as well as for Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, who is right now serving a prison sentence for defrauding investors.
All in all, the CrowdStrike outage resulted in a total loss of around $5.4 billion among Fortune 500 companies, according to insurance startup Parametrix – and this does not include Microsoft's losses.
Some X users expressed upset about the way Delta treated its customers in the aftermath of the outage.
"If you're so committed to 'caring for your customers' then why the heck did you abandon them for up to SIX DAYS?!?" one asked.
"You are all talk, no action," wrote another. "You did not approve reimbursement of the expenses that I had to incur 7/19-21. Case 10563477."
Someone else whose family, including her 87-year-old grandmother, was separated because of the incident wrote that all she was offered by Delta was $12 meal vouchers, which is insulting.
"I purchased a fully refundable ticket and was just issued an e-credit upon cancelling my flight," wrote another about how Delta is offering e-credits rather than actual refunds. "How do I get my actual money back?"
What happens when the entire global grid implodes? Find out more at Panic.news.
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