In the wake of a considerable CrowdStrike outage in July, tensions have escalated between Microsoft and Delta Airlines.
Microsoft’s legal team has communicated with Delta’s representatives, deflecting some responsibility for the airline’s operational issues during that weekend back onto Delta. This correspondence followed critiques by Delta CEO Ed Bastian regarding Microsoft’s role in the situation, labeling Bastian’s statements as “inaccurate, misleading, and detrimental to Microsoft’s credibility,” according to The Verge.
Microsoft claims that CrowdStrike disruption impacted more devices than acknowledged
Microsoft Denies Responsibility for Flight Disruption
Microsoft maintains that it offered assistance to Delta shortly after the CrowdStrike incident occurred but was rebuffed. The tech giant further claims that the IT systems requiring rectification were managed by another corporation—potentially IBM—rather than Microsoft.
The exact origins of this conflict are difficult to untangle; however, it’s evident that both companies hold divergent views on what led to a significant number of flight interruptions and cancellations during the troubling weekend.
The issues stemmed from an erroneous software update pushed out by CrowdStrike—neither developed nor owned by Microsoft—that negatively impacted millions of Windows machines globally, triggering widespread blue screen errors.
