Delta CEO Reveals Eye-Popping Cost of Global Tech Outage

A botched software update earlier this month for cybersecurity software CrowdStrike affecting Microsoft computers led to a global IT meltdown that brought aviation to a screeching halt. Delta Air Lines the worst-affected, cancelling thousands of flights and working to get customers to their destinations, all while absorbing the costs of the debacle. 

Now, the airline needs to rebuild after what happened. Earlier this week, Delta hired a lawyer to explore seeking compensation from Microsoft and CrowdStrike, per Fox Business. And in a July 31 appearance on CNBC, Delta CEO Ed Bastian broke down just how much the days-long disaster ended up costing the company. 

"[The issue is] at Microsoft and CrowdStrike, and we are heavy with both. We are by far the heaviest in the industry with both. And so we got hit the hardest in terms of the recovery," he explained. "I think this is a call to the industry. Everyone talks about making sure Big Tech is responsible. Well, guys, this cost us a half a billion dollars." 

As for the legal action the company plans to bring against the two companies, Bastian stated plainly, "We have no choice." 

"[We lost money] over a period of five days, not just between the lost revenue, but the tens of millions of dollars per day in compensation and hotels, and we did everything we could to take care of our customers over that time frame," he said. "You can't come in to a mission-critical, 24/7 operation and tell us we have a bug. It doesn't work."

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Bastian continued to unload on both tech companies, noting that Delta isn't looking to exact some kind of financial revenge, but to simply receive what they believe they're owed.

"We're not looking to wipe them out, but we're looking to make sure that we get compensated however they decide to for what they cost us: Half a billion dollars in five days," he said. 

Delta's recovery might have taken the longest, but all operations have since returned to normal around the globe.