IT Outage Cost Delta Air Lines $500 Million

The massive computer disruption affected the airline’s crew-tracking system for nearly a week.

Friday, August 02, 2024 at 12:55 PM ET

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The massive July 19 computer outage at Delta disrupted the airline’s crew tracking system for nearly a week, according to the airline. [Courtesy: Delta Air Lines]

Key Takeaways:

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian blamed cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and software provider Microsoft for a recent IT outage that cost the airline $500 million.
The July 19 outage disrupted Delta's crew-tracking system for nearly a week, leading to the cancellation of about 30% of its flights.
Delta's recovery was severely hampered by its heavy reliance on CrowdStrike and Microsoft, requiring manual resets of 40,000 servers.
The airline is now pursuing legal action against CrowdStrike and Microsoft to seek compensation for its losses.

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

Amelia Walsh

Amelia Walsh is a private pilot who enjoys flying her family’s Columbia 350. She is based in Colorado and loves all things outdoors including skiing, hiking, and camping.