Delta hit with class action lawsuit over CrowdStrike outage
After multiple canceled flights to Washington D.C., Delta Air Lines passengers Patty (L) and Alice Crump get ticketing assistance from an agent at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on July 22, 2024, in Atlanta. (Photo by Jessica McGowa
ATLANTA - A group of passengers is suing Delta Air Lines over the Atlanta-based airline's response to the global CrowdStrike outage that forced the company to cancel thousands of flights.
The class action complaint was filed in the United States District Court of the Northern District of Georgia on Tuesday.
In the lawsuit, the attorneys claim that Delta "refused or ignored" refund requests from passengers whose flights were canceled or delayed.
"As a result of Delta’s failures, affected passengers were forced to spend thousands of dollars in unexpected expenses, including flights from other airlines, hotels, rental cars, ground transportation, and food," part of the lawsuit reads. "Further, Delta separated thousands of passengers from their luggage, leaving many without necessary medication, clothes, and other belongings."
The lawsuit alleges that some travelers lost thousands of dollars after being stranded while traveling and were only offered a few hundred dollars back or a flight voucher.
Delta passengers try to find their bags after canceled and delayed flights at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on July 22, 2024, in Atlanta. (Photo by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)
MORE: Microsoft blasts Delta over CrowdStrike outage comments
"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. When our clients sought refunds, Delta again failed to deliver. We look forward to litigating the case on their behalf," Attorney Joe Sauder of Sauder Schelkopf told FOX 5 in a statement.
The plaintiffs are asking a judge to rule that their claims could be considered a class action and award damages.
Delta declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Delta's flight problems after CrowdStrike outage
Among airlines, Delta was by far the hardest hit by the outage, having to cancel more than 6,500 flights, because key systems were crippled by the incident.
According to statistics from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Delta scrapped more flights in the last week than it did in 2018 and 2019 combined.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is investigating why Delta failed to recover as quickly as other airlines. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said last week that the department would also examine Delta’s customer service, including "unacceptable" lines for assistance and reports that unaccompanied minors were stranded at airports.
MORE: Delta meltdown: Buttigieg says more than 3,000 complaints filed since DOT probe launched
On July 25, Buttigieg told FOX 5's Tyler Fingert that the agency had received more than 3,000 complaints from Delta passengers.
"When there is a disruption, you need to be able to get a hold of a customer service agent who can help you, someone who can make sure you get the vouchers for meals, hotels, rebooking, that kind of thing, and somebody who can get you on your way," Secretary Buttigieg said. "So, when we hear these reports of somebody having to wait in line for 8 hours to speak to somebody on the phone, people sleeping on the floor in airports because they weren't able to get accommodated or taken care of, that's a major concern and that's going to be a big focus of our investigation."
Six days after the original outage, Delta was able to resume operations.
Delta, CrowdStrike, and Microsoft trade words over who's to blame for outage
Last week, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said that disruption to its operations cost the airline "half a billion dollars in five days."
Part of that amount included "the tens of millions of dollars per day in compensation and hotels" for the five-day period, Bastian said.
The Atlanta-based airline hired prominent attorney David Boies, chairman of Boies Schiller Flexner, to pursue possible damages from CrowdStrike and Microsoft, a source confirmed to FOX Business.
"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," he said during an appearance on CNBC.
CrowdStrike responded to Bastian's comments and Delta's hiring of Boies by calling the threat of a lawsuit "misleading." A lawyer for Microsoft responded by calling the public comments "incomplete, false, misleading, and damaging to Microsoft and its reputation."
Microsoft lawyer Mark Cheffo said the company was trying to determine "why other airlines were able to fully restore business operations so much faster than Delta."
Both CrowdStrike and Microsoft said Delta had turned down their offers to help the airline recover from the outage last month. Microsoft’s lawyer said CEO Satya Nadella emailed Bastian during the outage, but the Delta CEO never replied.
On Tuesday, Delta said it has a long record of investing in reliable service, including "billions of dollars in IT capital expenditures" since 2016 and billions more in annual IT costs. It declined further comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.