Microsoft is teaming up with cybersecurity software firm CrowdStrike to fight Delta Air Lines, which blamed the two companies for thousands of flight cancellations after a technology glitch last month.
Delta’s critical IT systems could be maintained by other technology companies, not Microsoft Windows, a Microsoft lawyer said Tuesday.
“Your letter and Delta’s public comments are incomplete, false, misleading, and damaging to Microsoft and its reputation,” Microsoft attorney Mark Cheffo said in a letter to Delta attorney David Boies.
Cheffo said Microsoft is trying to determine “why other airlines were able to fully restore business operations so much faster than Delta.”
The comments represent an escalating battle between tech companies and the Atlanta-based airline.
Last week, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said a global technology failure that began with a flawed CrowdStrike upgrade to Microsoft Windows machines cost the airline $500 million. Bastian has threatened legal action.
Delta said on Tuesday that it has a long track record of investing in reliable service, including “billions of dollars in capital spending on IT” since 2016 and billions more in annual IT spending. It declined to comment further.
CrowdStrike has also disputed Delta’s claims. Both the company and Microsoft said Delta declined an offer to help the airline recover from an outage last month. Microsoft’s attorney said CEO Satya Nadella emailed Bastian during the outage, but the Delta CEO never responded.
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