Move FM Global News

ATLANTA, Georgia: A judge in Georgia has ruled that Delta Air Lines can continue most of its lawsuit against the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.

Delta is attempting to hold CrowdStrike accountable for a major computer outage in July 2024 that resulted in the cancellation of 7,000 flights.

Judge Kelly Lee Ellerbe said Delta could try to prove that CrowdStrike was very careless when it released a faulty update to its Falcon software. This update caused over 8 million Windows computers worldwide to crash.

The judge noted that Delta claimed the problem could have been avoided if CrowdStrike had tested the update on just one computer first. The judge also mentioned that CrowdStrike’s president admitted they did something “horribly wrong.”

The judge is also allowing Delta to move forward with a claim that CrowdStrike improperly accessed its computers and with a limited claim that the company broke a promise not to install an unauthorized “back door” in Delta’s systems.

CrowdStrike’s lawyer, Michael Carlinsky, stated that he believes the court will ultimately determine that Delta’s case is weak or that damages will be capped at a few million dollars under Georgia law.

Delta, based in Atlanta, expressed satisfaction with the ruling and believes it has a strong case. The airline sued CrowdStrike three months after the outage on July 19, which disrupted travel for 1.4 million passengers.

Delta says the outage cost the company $550 million in lost revenue and additional expenses, although it saved $50 million on fuel.

A separate judge also ruled that Delta must face a class-action lawsuit from passengers who say the airline wrongly refused to give full refunds after the outage. Other airlines were also affected, but they recovered more quickly.

The case is Delta Air Lines Inc v CrowdStrike Inc, Georgia Superior Court, Fulton County, No. 24CV013621.