Delta Airlines Slammed With Class Action Lawsuit Over 'Disastrous' Flight Cancelations Delta says its mass cancelations were due to software issues caused by the July 19 CrowdStrike outage.
By Emily Rella Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- Scorned passengers are suing Delta Airlines in a class action lawsuit over refunds and compensations for canceled flights stemming from the mass IT outage on July 19.
- CrowdStrike and Delta have lawyered up in preparation for expected lawsuits — from customers and from each other.
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After July's CrowdStrike update and subsequent IT outage that affected Microsoft-run devices and Delta Airlines's software, scorned travelers have filed a class action lawsuit against the airline.
The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Georgia, alleges that passengers were denied refunds and other compensations. And it isn't the only legal challenge the airline is facing.
"The impact on Delta passengers was disastrous," the lawsuit states. "Delta's failure to recover from the CrowdStrike outage left passengers stranded in airports across the country and the world and, in many cases, thousands of miles from home."
Related: Delta Hiring Power Attorney After CrowdStrike Outage and Mass Cancellations
The suit alleges that, in certain cases, Delta would only offer refunds if passengers signed a legal waiver forbidding them to take legal action against the airline, and, in other cases, automatic refunds were completely refused by the airline.
Other passengers in the suit claim Delta did not provide them with food, shelter, or transportation once on the ground, and that they had to front the unexpected expenses themselves.
"While nearly every other airline recovered quickly from the July 19th 'Tech Outage,' Delta's passengers remained stranded, waiting in lines for days trying to get to their destinations," attorney Joe Sauder of Sauder Schelkopf said in a release. "When our clients sought refunds, Delta again failed to deliver. We look forward to litigating the case on their behalf."
Related: Delta Airlines Cancels Hundreds More Flights, Customers Furious
The mass cancelations were brought on by a July 19 CrowdStrike update that caused widespread outages on Microsoft-run devices and affected one of Delta's top crew-tracking tools.
It's estimated that Delta lost between $350 million and $500 million amid the outages that caused nearly 7,000 flights to be canceled and over 176,000 scorned customers.
Still, CrowdStrike and Delta are not taking responsibility for the travel nightmare.
Related: Delta CEO Speaks Out About Flight Cancelations, CrowdStrike
Delta told employees in an internal memo last week that the company was "planning to pursue legal claims" against CrowdStrike and hired the famed lawyer, David Boies.
This prompted a response from attorney Michael Carlinsky, representing CrowdStrike, which alleged that the company offered Delta on-site help during the outages but "received no response."
Delta has not filed a lawsuit against CrowdStrike as of press time.
