Huge Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Delta After Crowdstrike Outage

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Delta Air Lines is facing a lawsuit filed by a group of passengers in the wake of a global CrowdStrike outage that forced the airline to cancel thousands of flights. The class action complaint was filed on Tuesday in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

In the lawsuit, travelers whose flights were canceled or delayed because of the outage accuse Delta of rejecting or dismissing their claims for refunds. The plaintiffs contend that because the airline did not respond to these problems, impacted passengers were left with unanticipated costs, including booking new flights, finding lodging, renting cars, setting up ground transportation, and making food purchases.

"As a result of Delta’s failures, affected passengers were forced to spend thousands of dollars in unexpected expenses," the lawsuit states. "Further, Delta separated thousands of passengers from their luggage, leaving many without necessary medication, clothes, and other belongings."

The complaint also alleges that while other airlines managed to recover quickly from the outage on July 19th, Delta passengers faced extended delays, with some travelers stranded for days. Many passengers reportedly received only partial compensation in the form of a few hundred dollars or flight vouchers.

Attorney Joe Sauder of Sauder Schelkopf, representing the plaintiffs, expressed frustration over Delta's response. "While nearly every other airline recovered quickly from the July 19th ‘Tech Outage,’ Delta’s passengers remained stranded, waiting in lines for days trying to get to their destinations. When our clients sought refunds, Delta again failed to deliver. We look forward to litigating the case on their behalf," Sauder stated.

The plaintiffs are seeking class action status for their claims and are requesting damages from the court.

The airline had to cancel over 6,500 flights as a result of the disruption, which had a severe impact on critical systems. The Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports that Delta canceled more flights in the previous week than it did in the combined years of 2018 and 2019.

Delta's somewhat delayed recovery in comparison to other airlines is being looked into by the US Department of Transportation. Unaccompanied youngsters have been left stranded at airports, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg declared that the government would investigate Delta's customer service, citing tales of lengthy wait times for assistance.

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