Delta Will Have To 'Explain' Why It Didn't Take Responsibility — Security Company's Lawyers Fireback At Tech Crash-Hit Airline After It Threatens To Sue Microsoft And CrowdStrike

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. CRWD has responded to Delta Air Lines Inc.’s DAL decision to pursue damages against the cybersecurity company and Microsoft Corporation MSFT. They claimed that the airline did not respond to their offer of help during a major system outage last month.

What Happened: In a letter on Sunday, from attorneys for the technology firm, CrowdStrike said that its CEO George Kurtz personally reached out to Delta CEO Ed Bastian, but received no response.

“CrowdStrike's CEO personally reached out to Delta's CEO to offer onsite assistance, but received no response,” stated the letter signed by Michael Carlinsky, co-managing partner of the law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.

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The letter also addressed Delta’s seeking legal actions, saying that the airline’s threats of a lawsuit have perpetuated a “misleading narrative.”

“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,” the letter read.

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New: CrowdStrike accuses Delta of creating a "misleading narrative that CrowdStrike is responsible for Delta's IT decisions and response to the outage." Letter from CrowdStrike's outside counsel: pic.twitter.com/OMD3iY6U9M

— David Slotnick (@David_Slotnick) August 5, 2024

Why It Matters: The system outage at Delta resulted in thousands of flight cancellations, prompting a federal investigation into the U.S. carrier. The Atlanta-based airline was significantly impacted, struggling to normalize flight operations for several days after the outage.

Delta reportedly incurred a $500 million charge due to the cancellation of more than 5,500 flights in the days following the initial system outage.

Previously, Delta’s CEO criticized Microsoft’s platform for its “fragility,” while praising Apple Inc. for its stability. “"My sense is [Microsoft is] probably the most fragile platform within that space… When was the last time you heard about a big outage at Apple,” he stated in an interview.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.