Microsoft Says Delta Turned Down Help During Flight Outage
- Microsoft claims that Delta Airlines rejected multiple offers of assistance during a significant flight disruption caused by an outage.
- The outage affected numerous flights and raised concerns about the airline's response and management of the situation.
- This incident highlights the complexities involved in crisis management within the airline industry.
In a heated exchange following a significant IT outage, Microsoft has accused Delta Air Lines of failing to modernize its technology, which contributed to the airline's cancellation of thousands of flights. Delta CEO Ed Bastian previously stated that the airline would seek damages from Microsoft and CrowdStrike, claiming the disruptions cost approximately $500 million. The incident, which occurred on July 19, was triggered by a problematic software update from CrowdStrike, affecting numerous computers running Microsoft Windows. Delta faced considerable challenges in recovering from the outage, canceling over 5,000 flights in the aftermath, while other airlines managed to bounce back more swiftly. In a letter dated July 29, Delta's legal representation alleged that Microsoft had not met contractual obligations and acted with gross negligence regarding the faulty update that caused widespread system failures. In response, Microsoft expressed empathy for Delta's situation and offered assistance to the airline at no cost. However, Microsoft’s lawyer, Cheffo, pointed out that Delta's crew-tracking and scheduling system, which was primarily affected, was managed by other technology providers, including IBM. This suggests that Delta's reliance on non-Microsoft systems may have hindered its recovery efforts. Cheffo further emphasized the need for Delta to maintain records detailing the contributions of various technologies, including those from IBM and Amazon, to the airline's operational issues during the critical period from July 19 to July 24.