Delta faces class action lawsuit over alleged refund denials

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Delta Air Lines, alleging the company refused to issue refunds after a global technology outage caused thousands of flight cancellations.

O lawsuit was filed on Tuesday on behalf of Delta customers whose flights were canceled due to global technology disruption. The outage was linked to an update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike that crashed computers running Windows software around the world.

The lawsuit alleges that Delta was more affected by the technological disruption than other airlines, alleging that it “refused or ignored” customers’ requests for refunds for delayed or canceled flights. The lawsuit also states that Delta did not provide impacted customers with food, transportation or lodging vouchers.

“These unfair, illegal and unconscionable practices have resulted in Delta’s unjust enrichment at the expense of its customers,” the complaint says.

“Consequently, Plaintiffs bring this action in order to secure refunds for each and every similarly situated consumer that Delta has harmed by refusing to issue full refunds for canceled or significantly impacted flights as a direct and proximate result of the CrowdStrike outage.” , the complaint continues.

The lawsuit comes after Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the recent global technology disruption cost his company $500 million after the airline suffered major flight delays and cancellations. Although many airlines faced problems due to the disruption, Delta canceled or delayed thousands of flights in the days following the incident.

Bastian threatened to sue CrowdStrike, which rejected Delta’s characterization of the outage. Michael Carlinsky, an attorney for CrowdStrike, said earlier this week that the company is “highly disappointed” that Delta accused the company of acting inappropriately, pointing to CrowdStrike’s apology following the outage.

He also questioned why other airlines were able to recover more quickly from the disruption, in his letter addressed to Delta attorney David Boies. Microsoft attorney Mark Cheffo asked similar questions in a letter to Boies and suggested that the airline’s main IT system be serviced by other companies rather than Microsoft, according to the Associated Press.

The Department of Transportation also issued an investigation into Delta following the mass cancellations.

The Hill has reached out to Delta for comment.

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