Delta recently had a massive operational meltdown, whereby 7,000 flights were canceled, and even more flights were delayed. While that was a mess, I’d argue that the company’s recovery has been even worse, as Delta has done everything it can to avoid taking accountability.
The Atlanta-based airline has vowed to sue CrowdStrike and Microsoft to recover the losses from this incident, which are expected to total around $500 million.
Unfortunately I’m not sure Delta’s threats to sue two tech giants are working out all that well. A couple of days ago, I wrote about how CrowdStrike sent a scathing letter to Delta, and now Microsoft has joined in as well. My gosh, I would not want to be on the receiving end of this letter, because… ouch!
Microsoft accuses Delta of false & misleading narrative
Legal counsel for Microsoft has just sent a letter to Delta’s counsel, defending itself vigorously against Delta’s accusations. Here’s the main part of the letter, which I think is worth sharing in full, as there are quite a few points here:
Let me say first that Microsoft empathizes with Delta and its customers regarding the impact of the CrowdStrike incident. But your letter and Delta’s public comments are incomplete, false, misleading, and damaging to Microsoft and its reputation.
The truth is very different from the false picture you and Delta have sought to paint:
(a) Even though Microsoft’s software had not caused the CrowdStrike incident, Microsoft immediately jumped in and offered to assist Delta at no charge following the July 19 outage;
(b) Each day that followed from July 19 through July 23, Microsoft employees repeated their offers to help Delta. Each time, Delta turned down Microsoft’s offers to help, even though Microsoft would not have charged Delta for this assistance.
(c) On the morning of July 22, a Microsoft employee, aware that Delta was having more difficulty recovering than any other airline, messaged a Delta employee to say, “just checking in and no pressure to reply, but if you can think of anything your Microsoft team can be helping with today, just say the word.” The Delta employee replied, saying “all good. Cool will let you know and thank you.” Despite this assessment that things were “all good,” public reports indicate that Delta canceled more than 1,100 flights on July 22 and more than 500 flights on July 23.
(d) More senior Microsoft executives also repeatedly reached out to help their counterparts at Delta, again with similar results. Among others, on Wednesday, July 24, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella emailed Delta CEO Ed Bastian, who has never replied.
(e) In fact, it is rapidly becoming apparent that Delta likely refused Microsoft’s help because the IT system it was most having trouble restoring—its crew-tracking and scheduling system—was being serviced by other technology providers, such as IBM, because it runs on those providers’ systems, and not Microsoft Windows or Azure.
Microsoft continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the CrowdStrike incident to understand why other airlines were able to fully restore business operations so much faster than Delta, including American Airlines and United Airlines. Our preliminary review suggests that Delta, unlike its competitors, apparently has not modernized its IT infrastructure, either for the benefit of its customers or for its pilots and flight attendants.
Given all this, my client was surprised to see your letter. This is particularly so given that CrowdStrike has acknowledged responsibility for the content update that caused the July 19 incident.
As you know, Windows is an open platform that supports a vibrant ecosystem of programs, including built-in and first-party solutions and additional options by third-party developers, such as CrowdStrike. To ensure that Microsoft’s customers have options for the best possible protection from malicious attacks, Windows enables trusted third-party developers to develop kernel drivers, in addition to user mode drivers. Security programs are able to use kernel mode drivers to protect the Windows system in the startup process. Third-party programs that utilize kernel drivers must balance security against resilience, and Microsoft provides feedback and best practices to third-party security program developers through Microsoft’s Virus Initiative.
Given Delta’s false and damaging public statements, Microsoft will vigorously defend itself in any litigation if Delta chooses to pursue that path. Further, Microsoft demands that Delta preserve (a) the documents CrowdStrike demanded that you preserve; as well as (b) documents discussing or referring to (i) the CrowdStrike incident and Delta’s outage, including Delta’s efforts and experience in returning to working order its systems, including its crew-tracking and scheduling system and systems that use other third-party technology providers; (ii) the extent to which nonMicrosoft systems or software, including systems provided and/or designed by IBM, Oracle, Amazon Web Services, Kyndryl or others, and systems using other operating systems, such as Linux, contributed to the interruption of Delta’s business operations between July 19 and July 24; (iii) the decision to deploy CrowdStrike across the various different systems comprising Delta’s computer infrastructure; and (iv) Delta’s communications with third-party media and/or public affairs consultants concerning the CrowdStrike incident and Delta’s outage, and concerning Delta’s communications strategy and/or public response. Such documents include both communications internally and externally, with third parties.
Please let me know if you would like to schedule a time to talk.
This situation is not making Delta look good…
In a recent memo to employees about the meltdown, Delta CEO Ed Bastian wrote that “when you get knocked down, what’s most important is how you get back up.” All I can say is that the way Delta is “getting back up” really isn’t impressing me.
First, there was the way the airline tried to treat stranded customers, as Delta initially said it wouldn’t reimburse tickets on other airlines when Delta was completely unable to operate. The airline then backtracked, after the Department of Transportation announced it was investigating the airline.
Now we’ve seen Delta do so little to take accountability for its part in these issues, continuing to blame everything on CrowdStrike, without in any material way acknowledging the company’s lack of investment in its crew scheduling software.
While I can appreciate Delta wanting to hold CrowdStrike responsible to some degree, the case against Microsoft is even weaker, and I think this letter from Microsoft is magnificently well written. I mean, this is as close as one company can get to “owning” another. I can’t even point to one part that I like the most, because the whole thing is just so well done.
I can’t help but wonder if this incident could in some way represent a turning point for Delta. The airline has so long based its success on its premium imagine and it being a brand that people want to do business with. But I don’t think anyone can look at this situation objectively and say “yeah, Delta absolutely handled this as well as it could have.”
Could we see some management changes at the airline, following this incident? For that matter, I’m curious if this whole incident could have an impact on employee morale, and on relations between management and employees. I can’t imagine that profit sharing at Delta will be looking all that good for 2024, and we know that Delta flight attendants have several times been on the verge of unionizing…
I really think Delta is overplaying its hand here and is digging itself a deeper hole with both customers and business partners, and I’m curious to see how this ultimately unfolds…
Bottom line
Delta has threatened to sue Microsoft (in addition to CrowdStrike), following the carrier’s meltdown. Microsoft had quite the response to Delta’s accusations, pointing out how the company repeatedly reached out to Delta to try and help, and was rejected. As Microsoft (correctly, in my opinion) points out, the severity of the meltdown was almost certainly due to Delta’s lackluster crew scheduling software.
What do you make of Microsoft’s letter to Delta? Do you feel like Delta is looking good in this whole situation?
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