CrowdStrike retaliates against Delta Air Lines for ‘threats to litigation’

CrowdStrike has reacted to Delta Air Lines’ threats of legal action against the cyber-security company for a botched update that caused thousands of flights to be grounded, denying the company was responsible for its own IT decisions or the days of disruption.

In a letter sent on Sunday, lawyers from CrowdStrike claimed that US carriers had created “a misleading narrative” that the cyber-security firm was “grossly negligence” in an accident that US airlines have said will cost them 500mn.

Delta recovered more slowly than its competitors when CrowdStrike’s update knocked out millions of Windows computers worldwide last month. The airline has notified the cyber security firm that it intends to seek damages and hired litigation company Boies Schiller Flexner.

CrowdStrike sent the letter on Sunday to the law firm whose chairman David Boies represented the US Government in its antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft as well as Harvey Weinstein and other prominent clients.

Microsoft estimates that approximately 8.5mn Windows-based devices were affected by the faulty software update. This caused airline passengers to be stranded, hospital appointments to be cancelled, and broadcasters around the globe to go off the air. CrowdStrike reported last week that 99 percent of Windows devices using the Falcon software are now online.

The morning of the 19th, major US airlines Delta United and American temporarily grounded their aircraft. United and American managed to resume their flights over the weekend. However, Delta continued its flight disruptions well into the next week.

In the end, the Atlanta-based carrier cancelled more than 6,500 flights. This triggered an investigation by the US Department of Transportation due to claims of poor service during the chaos.

CrowdStrike lawyer Michael Carlinsky is a co-managing Partner of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. He wrote that if Delta Air Lines pursues legal action it would have to explain to its customers why their competitors were able restore operations so much quicker.

He said: “Should Delta continue down this path, Delta would have to explain to its shareholders and the public why CrowdStrike accepted responsibility for their actions — quickly, transparently and constructively – while Delta didn’t.”

CrowdStrike claimed Delta’s leadership also ignored and rejected offers of help: “CrowdStrike CEO personally reached out Delta CEO to offer onsite support, but received zero response.” CrowdStrike contacted Delta to follow up on their offer of onsite support. They were told that the resources weren’t needed.

Delta’s chief executive Ed Bastian stated last week that CrowdStrike “had not offered anything” to compensate for the disruption. He told CNBC that CrowdStrike had only “offered us free consulting advice” to compensate for the disruption.

Bastian claimed that Delta would be forced to pay $500 million for the disruption, but CrowdStrike said “any liability of CrowdStrike will be contractually limited to an amount between a single-digit million”.

A CrowdStrike spokesperson accused Delta of “publicly posturing” about bringing an unjustified lawsuit against CrowdStrike and expressed hope that the airline “would agree to work collaboratively to find a solution”.

Delta Air Lines has declined to comment.