Delta faces flight outage woes, class actions, settlement

Delta class action lawsuits, settlement overview: 

• Who: Consumers filed several class action lawsuits against Delta Airlines Inc. 
• Why: The class action lawsuits involve flight cancellations in the wake of a global power outage, data sharing with Meta Platforms and wage theft. 
• Where: The class action lawsuits were filed in U.S. federal courts. 

Consumers recently filed several class action lawsuits involving Delta Airlines. The claims  involved flight cancellations in the wake of a global power outage, data sharing with Facebook parent Meta Platforms and wage theft against Delta flight attendants. 

The flight cancellations are also part of an ongoing dispute between Delta, CrowdStrike and Microsoft. The U.S. Department of Transportation opened a probe into Delta’s handling of flight cancellations in the wake of the July 19 outage. 

Class action claims Delta failed to properly compensate travelers amid outage

A group of consumers filed a class action lawsuit against Delta earlier this month over claims the airline failed to adequately compensate them for out-of-pocket expenses they allegedly paid due to flight outages caused by a CrowdStrike software update July 19.

The class action lawsuit argues the CrowdStrike outages, the result of an automatic update, led to thousands of delayed and canceled flights and cost consumers thousands of dollars. 

“The impact on Delta passengers was disastrous,” the Delta class action says. “Delta’s failure to recover from the CrowdStrike outage left passengers stranded in airports across the country and the world and, in many cases, thousands of miles from home.”

Delta argues global IT outage cost airline $500M

In its own dispute with CrowdStrike and Microsoft, Delta says the global IT outage cost it $500 million. 

The airline argues the outage cost the company $500 million in lost revenue, as well as hotels and compensation it says it had to provide for consumers due to the outage. 

CrowdStrike and Microsoft, meanwhile, argue Delta is partly responsible for the extended outage, which led it to cancel more than 5,000 flights through July 25 in the five-day wake of the outage. 

In a letter to Delta’s counsel, CrowdStrike says it was “highly disappointed” by Delta’s alleged assertion it acted inappropriately and “strongly rejects” the allegations it was “grossly negligent or committed willful misconduct.” 

Department of Transportation launches probe into Delta flight cancellations

The U.S. Department of Transportation launched a probe into Delta’s handling of flight cancellations in the wake of the global IT power outage. 

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says Delta lagged behind other airlines in getting its flights back up and running, which led to thousands of customer complaints. 

“We require all airlines to meet their responsibilities to take care of passengers,” Buttigieg says on X. “Based on the disruptions we’ve seen and the complaints we’ve received about customer service,  we have launched an investigation into Delta.”

Judge greenlights $16M settlement between Delta, class of flight attendants

Also in July, a federal judge in California greenlighted a nearly $16 million settlement to resolve claims Delta committed wage theft against some of its airline attendants. 

The preliminary approval came nearly 10 years after plaintiffs first filed the complaint in 2015, at which time the flight attendants challenged Delta’s payment practices. 

The settlement will benefit a class of California-based flight attendants who worked for Delta between Jan. 9, 2014, and March 31, 2024, and who did not participate in the airline’s enhanced retirement or voluntary opt-out programs. 

Delta shared consumers’ personal info with Meta, class action claims

A pair of consumers filed a class action lawsuit against Delta earlier this year over claims the airline unlawfully shared their personal information with Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc.

The class action lawsuit argues Delta broke its contract with consumers by allegedly installing a tracking pixel on its website that disclosed the personal information of its customers with Meta. 

“Defendant’s sharing of this personal and identifying information with Facebook is in breach of the Conditions of Carriage and incorporated Privacy Policy to which Plaintiffs and Class Members agreed,” the Delta class action says. 

Are you affected by the Delta class actions? Let us know in the comments.

Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:

• Judge trims Alaska Airlines sabotage class action
• Boeing to plead guilty, pay $243.6M over 2018-19 crashes
• Frontier Airlines class action over All You Can Fly pass heads to arbitration
• Mother files wrongful death lawsuit against American Airlines