Microsoft slams Delta for refusing help, outdated systems after CrowdStrike incident
- After Delta’s CEO criticised Microsoft platforms as ‘fragile’, Microsoft said Delta turned down Microsoft’s offer of technical support for five days
Microsoft employees reached out to Delta to give technical support every day from July 19 through July 23, and “each time Delta turned down Microsoft’s offers to help”, according to a letter Tuesday from the technology giant’s attorneys to Delta’s representatives. Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella also personally emailed Delta CEO Ed Bastian and never heard back.
“Even though Microsoft’s software had not caused the CrowdStrike incident, Microsoft immediately jumped in and offered to assist Delta at no charge,” according to the letter, which was signed by Mark Cheffo of Dechert LLP.
The claims, in response to Delta’s hiring of attorney David Boies, heighten the tension after Delta suggested it would try to seek compensation for a breakdown it expects to cost it US$500 million this quarter. The airline was slower to recover than competitors after an errant software update from CrowdStrike affected Microsoft systems, creating a cascading effect that led Delta to cancel thousands of flights over several days.
Bastian has criticised both CrowdStrike and Microsoft over the outage, telling CNBC in an interview last week that Microsoft is “probably the most fragile platform within that space” when it comes to large technology providers.
Delta’s extended recovery time stemmed from the outage’s effects on an internal system used to process changes to flights and their crews. That left Delta unable to get its aircraft and personnel properly aligned.
