Delta CEO Slams Microsoft As "Most Fragile" Platform After Global Outage

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian declared Microsoft "the most fragile" platform after a massive IT outage last month caused chaos across the world. The outage, lasting five days, is estimated to have cost Delta $500 million in lost revenue, compensation and hotel expenses.

Mr Bastian's comments came in response to questions about the airline's ongoing relationship with Microsoft. In a CNBC interview, the Delta CEO said "Microsoft is probably the most fragile platform" and pointedly asked, "When was the last time you heard of a big outage at Apple?" 

Mr Bastian spoke of the high valuations of big tech companies, fueled in part by the hype surrounding generative AI, and argued that these companies have a responsibility to ensure the stability of their current systems. "They are building the future, and they have to make sure they fortify the current," he said.

The outage, which affected Delta's website, mobile app, and check-in systems, resulted in thousands of refunds and reimbursement requests. While the exact number was not disclosed, a Delta spokesman confirmed it was in the "thousands." The outage, caused by a botched CrowdStrike software update, took thousands of Microsoft systems offline and required 40,000 servers to be manually reset. Delta's crew scheduling platforms were also affected, leading to further disruptions, the CEO said. 

"If you're going to be having access, priority access to the Delta ecosystem in terms of technology, you've got to test the stuff. You can't come into a mission-critical 24/7 operation and tell us we have a bug," Mr Bastian said.

CrowdStrike, the cybersecurity firm responsible for the problematic update, has yet to offer any financial assistance to Delta. The company has only provided free consulting advice on managing the fallout. 

In response to the incident, Delta has hired attorney David Boies to seek compensation from both CrowdStrike and Microsoft. Mr Bastian said they needed to protect "shareholders, customers and employees" from the financial and "reputational damage" caused by the outage.