Delta Air Lines revealed it is facing $500 million in costs due to the global tech outage earlier this month, which disrupted airline services, communications, emergency services, and more.
Ed Bastian, Delta Air Lines CEO, told CNBC that this figure represents the airline's lost revenue, including tens of millions of dollars spent daily on "compensation and hotels" during the five-day disruption caused by the outage.
CrowdStrike, the security company responsible for the global tech outage, attributed the problem to a bug in an update they made. This bug led their cybersecurity systems to release "bad data" to millions of computers worldwide, resulting in the outage, as reported by ABC News.
The disruption caused widespread issues, taking out TV broadcasts, grounding flights, and disrupting hospitals, banks, and retailers. Delta Air Lines was the hardest hit, canceling thousands of flights and experiencing a crippling of its key systems.
As a result, Delta will be seeking damages from the cybersecurity company for the disruptions that led to millions in costs. Bastian noted that CrowdStrike did not offer financial assistance to the airline but instead provided "free consulting advice," according to the L.A. Times.
While CrowdStrike did not offer monetary compensation to Delta, it outlined measures to prevent similar problems in the future. These include rolling out updates, giving customers more control in case of trouble, and providing detailed information about planned updates.
The U.S. Department of Transportation is also investigating Delta's slow recovery compared to other airlines. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated that the investigation would examine Delta's customer service, including "unacceptable" wait times for assistance and reports of minors stranded at airports.
