Why Are Delta and CrowdStrike Feuding Over July's Outage?

In July of 2024, countless businesses and government agencies encountered an unexpected disruption to their systems. Transportation was especially hard-hit, with Delta, Amtrak and American Airlines stranding passengers and canceling routes as they sought to respond to a systems outage. The outage was caused by an update to the security software developed by CrowdStrike, which led to computers using Windows crashing en masse. Delta was hit especially hard, and its response to the outages has also drawn regulatory scrutiny.

In the wake of the outage, Delta and CrowdStrike have each escalated their disagreement over which party was more responsible. Here’s a quick rundown of where each company stands on the issue.

What is Delta’s position?
In the wake of the CrowdStrike outage, CNBC reported, Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian commented that it had cost them half a billion dollars when factoring in the costs of replacement flights and hotels for stranded travelers. Bastian also hinted that Delta might move away from using Windows computers in the future.

Bastian went on to state that Delta would seek damages as a result of the outage. As Reuters reported, the airline has hired attorney David Boies, presumably as a precursor to filing a lawsuit against CrowdStrike to regain lost revenue. Boies has represented several high-profile clients in court, including the NFL and victims of Jeffrey Epstein.

What is CrowdStrike’s position?
Boies isn’t the only big-name lawyer or law firm being consulted on a potential case. Reuters also noted that CrowdStrike is working with Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, a firm that has represented the likes of Google and Elon Musk in court. As Ars Technica reported, the firm’s co-managing partner, Michael Carlinsky, recently released a letter contrasting the responses of CrowdStrike and Delta in the wake of the outage — and arguing that a lawsuit from Delta might not work out well for the airline.

“Should Delta pursue this path, Delta will have to explain to the public, its shareholders, and ultimately a jury why CrowdStrike took responsibility for its actions — swiftly, transparently and constructively — while Delta did not,” Carlinsky wrote.

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Delta was hit hard by the CrowdStrike outage

For now, the clash of the two companies resembles nothing quite so much as a staring contest, with each one’s high-end legal team hoping that its reputation will suffice to get their opposing numbers to stand down. For now, the legal teams on both sides should have a lucrative on their hands; as for the rest of us, we’ll need to see whether Delta or CrowdStrike blinks first — or blinks at all.