Delta CEO says airline is facing $500 million in costs from global tech outage last week

Core Insights - Delta Air Lines is facing $500 million in costs due to a global technology outage that occurred earlier this month, which disrupted emergency services, communications, and numerous businesses [1][4] - The outage was attributed to a bug in an update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, which affected millions of customer computers and led to significant operational disruptions [2][4] - Delta was the most severely impacted airline, canceling thousands of flights as key systems were rendered inoperable [4] Financial Impact - The $500 million cost includes lost revenue and daily expenses for compensation and hotel accommodations during the five-day disruption [1][4] - Delta plans to seek damages from CrowdStrike for the financial losses incurred due to the outage, although CrowdStrike has not offered any financial assistance yet [5] Regulatory and Operational Response - The U.S. Department of Transportation is investigating Delta's recovery efforts, particularly why the airline was slower to recover compared to its competitors [4] - Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has indicated that the investigation will also focus on Delta's customer service issues during the outage, including reports of long wait times and unaccompanied minors being stranded [4] Cybersecurity Measures - CrowdStrike has announced plans to implement measures to prevent similar issues in the future, such as staggering update rollouts and providing customers with more control and information regarding updates [2][4]