What you need to know
- Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian says the CrowdStrike outage that toppled Microsoft’s services cost the airline $500 million.
- The executive says the incident has forced him to rethink the airline’s partnership with Microsoft and CrowdStrike while touting Apple’s apparent ‘immunity’ to repeated outages.
- The airline is seeking damages amounting to $500 million from Microsoft and CrowdStrike. However, the former has only offered free IT consultation advice, while the latter touted $10 Uber Eats gift cards for those affected.
As a seasoned IT analyst with over two decades of experience in the tech industry, I’ve seen my fair share of outages, glitches, and digital pandemics that have left companies scrambling to regain control. However, the recent CrowdStrike-Microsoft fiasco is one for the history books.
The worldwide disruption in digital systems, triggered by an imperfect CrowdStrike driver update for their kernel software which affected approximately 8.5 million Windows devices, causing Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) issues persistently over several hours, could potentially have been resolved. This predicament, however, often positions CrowdStrike and Microsoft in a difficult spot, balancing between two challenging situations.
As a frequent traveler who has experienced my fair share of flight disruptions due to technical glitches, I find it concerning that one of the leading airlines, Delta Air Lines, is taking legal action against Microsoft and CrowdStrike for their alleged role in a global IT outage. Although Microsoft was not directly responsible for the incident, they have become embroiled in this mess along with CrowdStrike. In my opinion, it’s crucial to hold companies accountable when their actions or lack thereof cause widespread inconvenience and chaos. However, I can’t help but wonder if there might be underlying factors that led to this unfortunate event, as technical issues often have multiple layers of complexity. As a consumer, I hope that the outcome of this lawsuit will bring clarity and justice for those affected by the outage, and perhaps even prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
In a recent conversation with CNBC, Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian, spoke about the digital challenges brought on by the pandemic which left numerous passengers stuck at airports. The company is believed to have lost anywhere from $350 million to $500 million due to approximately 7,000 flight cancellations and over 176,000 requests for refunds or reimbursements. Bastian stated that the company had to spend more than $40,000 on adjusting over 40,000 servers to restore their system after these events.
Bastian replied to the question about Delta potentially reassessing its partnership with Microsoft and CrowdStrike following a major outage, by mentioning that he had recently become aware of a significant disruption at Apple. He implied that Microsoft may be less stable in comparison. In simpler terms, he was saying that he recalled a recent large-scale issue at Apple and suggested Microsoft might not be as robust or reliable.
In addition to the statement and apology from George Kurtz, CEO of CrowdStrike, and the mistaken $10 Uber Eats gift card, the companies and organizations that suffered losses during the significant outage have not received compensation. However, Microsoft and CrowdStrike appear to have provided free consultation services to Delta Air Lines.
Delta is one of the initial firms seeking compensation following a significant outage, while CrowdStrike shareholders appear to have initiated a proposed class action lawsuit earlier this week (according to Reuters).
Delta is looking beyond Microsoft and CrowdStrike for ‘exceptional’ customer service
The CEO of Delta expressed that large technology firms such as Microsoft appear to be concentrating heavily on developing generative AI, which seems to be overshadowing other key services they offer. He also pointed out that these companies have not provided “outstanding” service to their established clientele.
According to Delta CEO Ed Bastian:
“To ensure uninterrupted service in the Delta ecosystem, it’s essential that you thoroughly test any changes or updates before implementation. In a continuously running, crucial environment, reporting issues like bugs can cause disruptions which are not desirable.”
“Delta CEO Ed Bastian admires Microsoft and Satya Nadella greatly, understanding they’re shaping the future. However, he emphasizes that they should continue strengthening their existing foundation. Previously, Delta believed it had the strongest security measures in place, comparing our protection to the combined forces of Microsoft and CrowdStrike.”
Microsoft and CrowdStrike take extensive steps to avoid future occurrences, such as limiting security software like CrowdStrike’s Falcon from directly interacting with the Windows 11 core system. Similarly, Apple imposes restrictions on third-party developers to prevent them from accessing its operating system at the kernel level.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, a Microsoft representative stated that due to an agreement with the European Commission following a complaint, Microsoft isn’t allowed to isolate its operating system in the same manner as Apple. However, the European Union, when speaking to The Verge, denied these claims and explained that Microsoft has the freedom to choose its business model and adjust its security infrastructure according to threats, as long as it complies with EU competition law.
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2024-08-02 16:39