2024 Delta Air Lines disruption

In July 2024, Delta Air Lines, a major U.S. carrier and one of the largest airlines in the world, experienced an operational disruption following the 2024 CrowdStrike incident including the cancelation of over 1,200 flights. The incident began on the morning of Friday, July 19 when a ground stop was issued by major carriers. While other carriers quickly recovered, the crisis continued for Delta until it was able to resume normal flight operations on July 25. Delta confirmed that the crisis resulted in the cancellation of over 7,000 flights over the five days of the disruption and affected over 1.3 million passengers.

In the aftermath of the Delta disruption, the United States Department of Transportation opened an investigation into Delta for potential violations of consumer rights.

In the mid-morning of July 19, a ground stop was issued by the three major U.S. carriers (United, Delta, and American Airlines) that halted takeoffs but allowed aircraft already in the air to reach their destinations.^[1][2][3] Other international carriers were also affected.^[4] Around 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, the Associated Press reported that about 1,500 flights had already been cancelled in the United States due to the outage.^[5] While American Airlines, United, and other carriers internationally recovered relatively quickly after Friday, Delta, by far the hardest hit of the US major airlines, experienced an operational disruption that continued for multiple days past the incident.^[6][7]

On July 19, cybersecurity company CrowdStrike distributed a faulty update to its Falcon Sensor security software that caused widespread problems with Microsoft Windows computers running the software. As a result, roughly 8.5 million systems crashed and were unable to properly restart^[8] in what has been called the largest outage in the history of information technology^[9] and "historic in scale" by the New York Times.^[10] The crash resulted in flight disruption globally with 5,078 flights, 4.6% of those scheduled that day, cancelled.^[11][12] An unrelated Microsoft Azure outage, affecting services such as Microsoft 365, compounded airlines' problems.^[13] However, while other airlines quickly recovered operations, Delta Air Lines did not.^[14]

Over 1,200 Delta Air Lines flights were canceled on July 19.^[7][15] Thousands of stranded travelers were forced to stay overnight at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Delta's largest hub and the busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic.^[15] Metro Atlanta hotels and rental car companies were overwhelmed by the crisis, leaving travelers no option but to sleep in the airport.^[16][17] One traveler attempting to return home to Tampa (after giving up on reaching California) reported that Amtrak was charging $1,000 for a one-way train ticket from Atlanta to Tampa.^[18] Visibly distraught passengers with nowhere to go were seen trying to sleep in the airport on hard linoleum floors without blankets or food.^[15] The airport's custodial staff were also overwhelmed, with restrooms and trash reportedly "out of control".^[17] Without warning, Delta banned unaccompanied minors on its flights through the end of July 23.^[19] This imposed hardship on parents who had been counting on that service to enable their children to fly without the expense of an accompanying adult.^[19]

While other carriers recovered, the crisis continued for Delta with more than 1,400 flights cancelled on July 20^[20] followed by more than 1,300 flights on July 21.^[21] With so many passengers still stuck in Hartsfield–Jackson after two consecutive nights, the airport implemented a "concessions crisis plan" and a plan to reunite passengers with their checked baggage.^[20] However, passengers in Atlanta continued to report "jam-packed" conditions and "heartbreaking" scenes in the terminals.^[22]

On July 21, Delta CEO Ed Bastian apologized to customers in a statement and revealed that the outage had left one of Delta's crew-tracking software programs "unable to effectively process the unprecedented number of changes triggered by the system shutdown".^[21][23] Delta CIO Rahul Samant said the program had been brought back online around 11 a.m. on July 19, but was overwhelmed by the backlog of updates awaiting processing and had been trying to catch up ever since.^[22] After the ground stop left too many crew members in the wrong places, Delta struggled to assemble enough pilots and flight attendants at airport gates to operate scheduled flights.^[23]

Many flights were repeatedly delayed and finally canceled because the one or two crew members who made it to the gate for a particular flight kept hitting their legal flight time limit before the airline could finish fully staffing the flight, and this caused the crisis to snowball as those crew and their aircraft were now in the wrong place for the following day's flights.^[23] A similar phenomenon occurred during the 2022 Southwest Airlines scheduling crisis.^[21] That same day, US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said on social media that the US Department of Transportation had received hundreds of complaints about Delta, and reminded the airline of its legal obligations to affected passengers.^[21]

On July 22, Delta cancelled more than 1,200 flights.^[22] On 23 July, the Department of Transportation announced the launch of a formal investigation into Delta's treatment of passengers.^[22] Delta officials promised to cooperate but said the airline was focused on its recovery.^[22]

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), as chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, wrote a letter to Bastian demanding that Delta fulfill its obligations under law.^[22][24] Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA), the ranking member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, released a statement alleging "families across the country are still stranded at airports due to last week's global technology outage, and the slow response by some airlines to this meltdown has been unacceptable."^[25]

On July 23, Buttigieg estimated that over 500,000 passengers had been affected by Delta flight cancellations.^[26] He said at a press conference, "There's a lot of things I'm very concerned about, including people being on hold for hours and hours, trying to get a new flight, people having to sleep on airport floors, even accounts of unaccompanied minors being stranded in airports, unable to get on a flight".^[27] He told CBS News, "Stories about people in lines of more than a hundred people with just one customer service agent serving them at an airport, that's completely unacceptable."^[28] By then, numerous passengers had ended up in different airports than their baggage because of Delta's flight cancellations, resulting in large piles of unclaimed suitcases and other checked baggage at Delta's airport terminals around the world.^[29]

On July 25, Delta reported to have returned to normal flight operations, after having to cancel nearly 7,000 flights.^[30]

Following the disruption, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said the disruption had cost the airline $500 million.^[31] On August 9, Delta confirmed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that over 7,000 flights had been cancelled over five days, and estimated its losses at $380 million in lost revenue and $170 million in expenses (adding up to about $550 million).^[32] Delta also estimated that around 1.3 million passengers had been affected by the flight cancellations.^[33]

On July 23, the United States Department of Transportation's Office of Aviation Consumer Protection announced it had opened an investigation into Delta Air Lines noting "continued widespread flight disruptions and reports of concerning customer service failures" while other carriers returned to normal levels of service.^[34]

During the disruption, passengers had filed more than 5,000 complaints about Delta with the Department of Transportation.^[35][36]

Buttigieg stated that "All airline passengers have the right to be treated fairly, and I will make sure that right is upheld".^[37] The Washington Post reported that the department was investigating allegedly misleading communications from Delta that offered only credit towards future Delta flights as compensation for cancelled flights and failed to clearly notify passengers of their legal right to a cash refund.^[27]

Buttigieg charged that Delta had failed to take care of consumers during its operational collapse.^[38] The Department of Transportation's previous investigation into the 2022 Southwest Airlines scheduling crisis resulted in a $140 million fine for Southwest.^[38]

In August 2024, passengers left stranded and refused refunds by Delta filed suit seeking class action status.^[39] The lawsuit alleged that "Delta's failure to recover from the CrowdStrike outage left passengers stranded in airports across the country and the world and, in many cases, thousands of miles from home" with "disastrous" impact.^[39]

Delta's response to the operational disruption significantly undermined Delta's reputation with consumers.^[40] Analysts noted that melting down while peers returned to normal operations had damaged Delta's image as a reliable carrier.^[41]

Delta Air Lines filed a lawsuit against CrowdStrike on October 25, 2024, approximately three months after the outage on July 19.^[42][43][44] Prior to the filing, Delta had sent letters to CrowdStrike on July 29 and August 8, 2024, indicating its intent to take legal action.^[45][46]

The lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia, where Delta is headquartered in Atlanta.^[47]

In its initial lawsuit, Delta Air Lines brought several claims against CrowdStrike in connection with the faulty software update and the resulting disruptions. Key allegations included:

• Breach of contract^[42][43]
• Gross negligence, with Delta alleging that CrowdStrike failed to properly test and validate the update prior to deployment. Delta claimed that the error could have been discovered by testing on a single computer and characterized the conduct as “grossly negligent, and indeed willful, misconduct”.^{[43][48][45][46][49][50]}
• Deceptive and unfair business practices, a claim that was later dismissed by a Georgia state judge.^[50][42]
• Computer trespass, based on allegations that CrowdStrike deployed the update without authorization, despite Delta opting out of automatic updates. Delta also claimed that the Falcon software created and exploited an unauthorized access point in Windows.^[43][50]
• Fraud, a narrowed claim asserting that CrowdStrike had falsely promised not to introduce an unauthorized “back door” into Delta's systems.^[43][48][46]

Delta Air Lines described the software update from CrowdStrike as “catastrophic” and claimed it had “forced untested and faulty updates” onto its customers.^[42][44] Delta sought to recover more than $500 million in direct losses, as well as additional damages for lost profits, legal expenses, reputational harm, and anticipated future revenue loss.^{[42][44][46][49]} The airline estimated its total losses at approximately $550 million, offset by $50 million in fuel savings.^{[46][42][48][51]}

CrowdStrike denied the allegations, describing Delta's claims as “far-fetched” and asserting that the lawsuit was not valid under Georgia law due to contractual limitations on liability.^{[46][51][45][52]} The company attributed Delta's prolonged recovery to outdated IT systems and an alleged refusal of assistance.^[49]

On the same day Delta filed its complaint in state court, CrowdStrike filed a separate lawsuit in federal court. The filing sought a declaratory judgment that its liability was limited under the Subscription Services Agreement between the companies.^[42][46][43]

In May 2025, a Georgia state judge ruled that Delta Air Lines could proceed with claims of gross negligence, computer trespass, and a narrowed fraud allegation against CrowdStrike.^[48][47][46] The court dismissed other claims, including intentional misrepresentation, fraud by omission, product liability, and deceptive business practices.^[50]

The judge found that Delta had sufficiently alleged unauthorized access for the computer trespass claim and that it was plausible the update had not been properly tested or deployed in stages. However, the ruling indicated that any potential damages may be limited under the parties’ contract, likely amounting to a figure in the single-digit millions, rather than the $500 million Delta initially sought.^[46]

In May 2025, a Georgia state court ruled that Delta Air Lines could proceed with most of its lawsuit against cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. Judge Kelly Lee Ellerbe of the Fulton County Superior Court allowed Delta to pursue claims of gross negligence and computer trespass.^[48][46][47]

Judge Ellerbe noted that Delta alleged CrowdStrike could have detected the programming error by testing the July update on a single computer before deployment.^[46] The ruling also cited a statement by CrowdStrike's president, who publicly acknowledged that the company had done something “horribly wrong.”^[53]

While the court allowed Delta's claims of gross negligence and computer trespass to proceed, it dismissed the airline's fraud claims related to statements made before June 2022.^[54] However, the court permitted a limited fraud claim concerning allegations that CrowdStrike falsely promised not to install an “unauthorized back door” into Delta's systems.^[46][55]