After Delta had a major tech outage meltdown two weeks ago due to a botched software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, it was forced to cancel over 5,500 flights over a period of several days, leaving many travelers stranded and infuriated at airports.
Now, those cancellations are coming back to haunt the airline as a chunk of those stranded travelers transformed their anger into a class-action lawsuit, which was filed on Aug. 6.
Related: Read CrowdStrike’s harsh letter to Delta over flight outage meltdown
In the lawsuit, Delta passengers claim that the airline’s failure to expeditiously recover from the CrowdStrike outage had a “disastrous” impact that not only left them stranded, but out of thousands of dollars.
“As a result of Delta’s failures, affected passengers were forced to spend thousands of dollars in unexpected expenses, including flights from other airlines, hotels, rental cars, ground transportation, and food,” reads the lawsuit.
Passengers also allege that Delta “refused or ignored” refund requests for canceled or delayed flights, and lost luggage, and even declined to provide them with various vouchers for the inconvenience.
Travelers wait to board their delayed flight at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on July 23, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia.
“Delta refused to provide all affected passengers with meal, hotel, and ground transportation vouchers, despite its previous commitments, and continues to refuse or ignore requests for reimbursements of these unexpected expenses,” states the lawsuit.
Delta allegedly offered passengers e-credits as a form of compensation for canceled flights, but failed to mention their rights to receive cash refunds under federal law.
Even when Delta agreed to reimburse passengers for unexpected expenses, the airline allegedly “forced passengers to release their legal claims” against the company.
Related: Delta CEO reveals major consequence of recent flight cancellations
One plaintiff in the lawsuit claims that after his flight was canceled as a result of the CrowdStrike outage, he was forced to spend $1,500 on a hotel for one night, transportation and another flight home with a different airline after Delta refused to offer meal or hotel vouchers.
He later requested reimbursement for his canceled flight, which he had two roundtrip tickets for that totaled $696.20, and Delta allegedly only offered him a partial refund of $408.11 for the ticket price.
The airline also offered him $100 for his out-of-pocket expenses, but under the condition that he waive any legal claims against the company.
Delta CEO flags brutal aftermath of CrowdStrike outage
The lawsuit against Delta comes after its CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement on July 21 that the airline was offering customers impacted by the outage with a travel waiver that allowed them to change their itinerary free of charge. He also stated that customers will be provided with meal vouchers, transportation and hotel accommodations.
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In an interview with CNBC on July 31, Bastian revealed that Delta was set to face a $500 million loss as a result of the CrowdStrike outage, which caused the airline to lose revenue and spend “tens of millions of dollars per day in compensation and hotels.”
Even though other airlines were also forced to cancel flights due to the CrowdStrike error, Delta took longer to return back to normal operations, canceling the most flights out of all of the other airlines.
Delta is currently planning to sue CrowdStrike for the financial losses, but CrowdStrike alleges that Delta is to blame for the flight cancellation chaos since it allegedly denied assistance on restoring its operations.
The airline giant is also under investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation for how it handled the CrowdStrike outage. The department said that it chose to launch the investigation after it received a “high volume of consumer complaints.”
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