CrowdStrike's stock has taken a significant hit, dropping 34% since a software update on July 19 caused a mass outage. The stock fell as much as 13% on Tuesday alone, following reports that Delta has hired attorney David Boies to seek compensation for damages related to the outage. While no lawsuit has been filed yet, Delta plans to seek compensation from CrowdStrike.
Delta's earnings are expected to decline by an estimated $350 million to $500 million this quarter as a result of the outage. The airline suffered more cancellations and delays compared to its competitors, with 1,207 flights canceled on the day of the outage. In comparison, United, the airline with the next highest number of cancellations, only canceled 694 flights.
The fallout from the outage has also affected Delta's reputation, as the airline struggled to restore operations following the incident. While most other airlines had resumed normal operations by Tuesday, Delta still had to manually reset and reboot each affected system. The company's inability to quickly recover from the outage may have a lasting impact on its reputation and customer trust.
David Boies, the attorney hired by Delta, has a history of high-profile cases representing clients such as Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and former Vice President Al Gore. Boies will now work on behalf of Delta to seek compensation for the financial losses incurred as a result of the CrowdStrike outage.
The ongoing situation highlights the potential legal and financial consequences that a mass IT outage can have on companies and their stakeholders. As the fallout continues, both CrowdStrike and Delta will need to navigate the aftermath of the incident and work towards resolving the issues that have arisen.