KEY TAKEAWAYS
- CrowdStrike shares are falling following a CNBC report that Delta Air Lines has hired top attorney David Boies to pursue potential damages from the cybersecurity firm as well as Microsoft following the global IT outage on July 19.
- Boies, chairman of Boies Schiller Flexner, represented the U.S. government in its antitrust case against Microsoft and helped secure same-sex marriage rights in California.
- Delta was the most heavily impacted of the major airlines from the outage that led to thousands of flight cancellations globally.
CrowdStrike (CRWD) shares are falling roughly 4% in premarket trading following a CNBC report that Delta Air Lines (DAL) has hired top attorney David Boies to pursue potential damages from the cybersecurity firm as well as Microsoft following the global IT outage on July 19.
Boies, chairman of Boies Schiller Flexner, represented the U.S. government in its antitrust case against Microsoft and helped secure same-sex marriage rights in California, CNBC noted.
The outage of Microsoft’s cloud services triggered by a defective CrowdStrike software update led to the cancellation and delay of thousands of flights worldwide, but Delta was the most heavily impacted of the major airlines.
CrowdStrike, Delta Decline To Comment
“We are aware of the reporting, but have no knowledge of a lawsuit and have no further comment,” a CrowdStrike spokesperson said in response to an emailed question for comment by Investopedia.
Delta said it had no comment, while Microsoft didn’t immediately return an email for comment.
Delta’s Delays, Cancellations Probed by DOT
The U.S. Department of Transportation has opened an investigation into Delta’s delays and cancellations following the CrowdStrike-driven outage.
Delta was axing hundreds of flights for several days after the outage, while rivals United Airlines (UAL) and American Airlines (AAL) had restored services much closer to normal. Delta said the outage impacted one of its tools that tracked crew schedules, complicating efforts to have a full crew for rescheduled flights.
The airline earlier this month reported second-quarter profit that missed estimates despite record revenue for the period. Delta shares, which edged higher in premarket trading, are up over 7% this year.