Delta hit with class-action lawsuit from passengers over refunds following CrowdStrike outage

A group of passengers impacted by Delta’s mass flight cancellations following the CrowdStrike outage last month is suing the airline, claiming the carrier has not provided them with refunds as required.

The class-action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Northern Georgia claims Delta refused and ignored requests for refunds for canceled flights linked to the tech outage and subsequent meltdown of its operations. 

The lawsuit also alleges Delta refuses to reimburse impacted customers for other expenses incurred due to their flights being canceled or delayed, including meals and hotel expenses.

“As a result of Delta’s failures, affected passengers were forced to spend thousands of dollars in unexpected expenses, including flights from other airlines, hotels, rental cars, ground transportation, and food,” the complaint reads. “Further, Delta separated thousands of passengers from their luggage, leaving many without necessary medication, clothes, and other belongings.”

CROWDSTRIKE SAYS DELTA REFUSED ITS OFFERS HELP AFTER GLOBAL TECH OUTAGE

One plaintiff claims they spent thousands on flights that were canceled and Delta has only offered them a $100 voucher toward a future flight. 

Delta shares have lost over 20% this quarter alone and are off more than 6% for the year. 

Another plaintiff claims Delta’s delays and cancellations left him and his wife stranded out of town without their luggage, and resulted in them missing out on an anniversary cruise they paid $10,000 for. That plaintiff said he requested a refund from Delta for the cost of his canceled flight, $800 in additional expenses paid due to the disruption of their travel, and for the cruise, but Delta is only offering reimbursement of $219.45.

Delta declined to comment on the lawsuit when contacted Wednesday, but directed FOX Business to a page on its website that details what actions the airline is taking to make things right with customers impacted by the outage.

DELTA’S OPERATIONS ARE BACK TO NORMAL; WHAT TOOK SO LONG?

The site says Delta is allowing customers who had booked travel with the airline from July 19-28 to request a refund for the unflown portion of their trip, and Delta has also expanded the list of eligible expenses that customers impacted by the disruption may be reimbursed for, including flight tickets purchased from other airlines, as well as train and bus tickets, rental cars and ride-shares.  

Companies across the globe were affected when a faulty CrowdStrike software update on July 19 caused Microsoft Windows computers and systems to crash, crippling operations across the economy in sectors from transportation to health care to finance.

The outage temporarily halted the airline industry, but Delta was the hardest hit. Its operations were down for nearly a week while rivals were able to get back up and running after a day or two.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian said last month the CrowdStrike outage cost the airline half a billion dollars. The carrier has hired prominent attorney David Boies to pursue possible damages from CrowdStrike and Microsoft. CrowdStrike has also fired back, disputing some of Delta’s claims.