Delta Slapped with a Group Lawsuit Over CrowdStrike Outage
ATLANTA – Travelers Unite to Sue Delta Air Lines over Cancelled and Delayed Flights
Passengers are hitting back at Delta Air Lines for its handling of the worldwide CrowdStrike technology failure. A group of unhappy travelers has filed a class action lawsuit, blaming the Atlanta-based airline for ignoring their refund requests and failing to deal with the incident efficiently.
Tossed Travel Plans and Extra Costs
The lawsuit accuses Delta of turning a blind eye to refund requests when they cancelled or delayed thousands of flights in the wake of the CrowdStrike outage. As a result, stranded passengers were left to foot hefty bills for extra stay-over expenses – think substitute flights, hotel rooms, rent-a-cars, and food, say the attorneys. Who hasn’t had that dreaded situation where you’re standing at the carousel, waiting for your bag to appear, but it never comes? Well, this also happened to many airline customers as Delta separated them from their luggage, leaving many without essentials.
Not Getting Their Money’s Worth
To make matters worse, the lawsuit alleges that some stranded passengers lost out big-time. Imagine being stuck in a foreign place and having to spend a ton of money just to get home? Only to be offered a measly few hundred dollars by the airline, or a flight voucher, that might not even cover your losses.
The High Price of Delta’s Digital Debacle
Applicants are asking for a chance to prove that their rights have been violated, whether it’s damage or claim-related. What about Delta? How has it responded? Well, they’ve decided to keep tight-lipped about it all. After the CrowdStrike outage, Delta had the worst of it when compared to other airlines, having to cancel over 6,500 flights because vital systems were affected.
What Does the Future Hold?
Now, Delta Air Lines are in the spotlight as the U.S Department of Transportation seeks answers to why the path to normal operations was not as smooth as it should have been. Not forgotten also are the long “help-me” lines, leaving passengers feeling uncared for and frustrated. But, it’s not all doom and gloom. With any disruption, Delta knows the importance of customer service and its role in providing passengers with necessary assistance, whether that’s meal vouchers, hotel booking, or just a friendly voice at the end of the phone.
The temporary outage allowed Delta to identify areas that need improvement, particularly in customer service, ensuring that the situations travelers found themselves in like waiting on phone lines for several hours, or sleeping at airports, do not repeat themselves. After six long days, Delta resumed operations, but the effects of the outage are far from over.
Who’s to Blame?
Delta is currently on the hunt for compensation from both CrowdStrike and Microsoft. These two tech giants however deny any responsibility, claiming that Delta declined their offers of assistance during the outage. All we know for sure is that the aftermath of the outage fault has left a deep cut in Delta’s pocket, estimated at around half a billion dollars, and it’s seeking compensation.
Awaiting the Verdict
As this drama unfolds, only time will tell what’s next for Delta, CrowdStrike, and Microsoft. Investigations are ongoing into Delta Air Lines’ handling of the technology outage and whether they will be able to claim any compensation remains to be seen. For now, commitments are being made to put better IT measures in place to prevent such a situation from happening again.
