Delta Airlines will face a lawsuit from passengers seeking compensation for canceled and delayed flights after the CrowdStrike outage.
A U.S. federal court has ruled that Delta Airlines must respond to claims by passengers who were not fully compensated for canceled and delayed flights due to a massive CrowdStrike outage that occurred in July 2024. Judge Mark Cohen of the Atlanta District Court allowed five of the nine plaintiffs to sue for breach of contract with the airline. He also allowed five more plaintiffs to sue under the Montreal Convention, which governs international air transportation. The remaining claims were dismissed as not complying with federal law.
On July 19, 2024, a massive outage occurred, the cause of which was an incorrect software update from CrowdStrike, which led to the failure of more than eight million computers. Delta Airlines suffered the most from the failure, which was forced to cancel about seven thousand flights. The problem was resolved the next day, but passengers reported the lack of automatic reimbursement. Delta Airlines tried to appeal the lawsuits, but the court partially satisfied the plaintiffs’ claims.
The court’s decision is seen as an important step towards establishing the liability of airlines to passengers in the event of technical failures. Plaintiffs’ lawyer Joseph Soder considers the court’s decision a victory for consumers, as it confirms the importance of airlines fulfilling their obligations to customers.
107 
97 
83 