Lawyers on behalf of Delta customers affected by last month's technical glitch are filing a class action lawsuit against the airline, alleging that the airline did not provide customers with refunds they were entitled to.
According to Sauder Schelkopf and Webb, Klase and Lemond, Delta conditioned its offer of partial reimbursements to passengers on a waiver releasing the airline of all legal claims passengers have.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian previously told CNBC that the airline lost $500 million from the outage.
What happened?
On July 21, a tech outage impacted many institutions, from banking to government services. The outage occurred when CrowdStrike sent corrupted computer code to computers using Microsoft operating systems. The aviation industry was particularly hard hit as Delta's competitors United and American also had numerous delays and cancellations.
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While Delta's competitors were able to recover and offer relatively normal service by the following weekend, Delta languished with hundreds of delays and cancellations in the five days following the outage.
The service disruption prompted the Department of Transportation to launch an investigation into the company's response.
Bastian said that Delta relies on CrowdStike and Microsoft services more than its competitors, causing it to be hit the hardest.
What are passengers entitled to?
The Department of Transportation says that passengers are entitled to a refund if their flight is canceled or significantly changed, and they do not accept alternative transportation or travel credits offered. The Department of Transportation defines "significantly changed" when the "departure or arrival times that are (delayed by) more than three hours domestically and six hours internationally; departures or arrivals from a different airport; increases in the number of connections; instances where passengers are downgraded to a lower class of service; or connections at different airports or flights on different planes that are less accessible or accommodating to a person with a disability."
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The Department of Transportation says the refunds must be automatic and prompt, which it defines as within 20 calendar days.
The lawsuit, however, was filed less than 20 days after the disruptions began.
What the lawsuit seeks
In addition to calling for refunds, lawyers are looking for the airline to cover other expenses, such as hotels, meals and the cost of flights on other airlines. One of the plaintiffs missed a planned cruise because they missed their flight. The lawsuit seeks money from Delta to compensate them, as well.
According to the Department of Transportation, Delta is among the airlines that provide complimentary hotel accommodations for any passenger affected by an overnight cancellation. But Delta's rules do not mention missed accommodations elsewhere.
“While nearly every other airline recovered quickly from the July 19th ‘Tech Outage,’ Delta’s passengers remained stranded, waiting in lines for days trying to get to their destinations. When our clients sought refunds, Delta again failed to deliver. We look forward to litigating the case on their behalf,” said Joe Sauder of Sauder Schelkopf, an attorney for the passengers.
The airline has said it is working to provide refunds for customers. Bastian said the outage did not just cost Delta lost revenue, but the company was also forced to pay for reimbursements and hotel costs. The CEO said the company has hired attorney David Boies to help the airline recoup some of its losses.
Scripps News has contacted Delta for its reaction to the suit and is awaiting a response.
@scrippsnews ✈️ What rights do you have if your #flight is majorly disrupted? After mass cancellations on major airlines following a glitch from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike in July, Delta passengers filed a class action #lawsuit against the airline. The customers claimed Delta declined to provide meals, hotels, and other vouchers. #news #aviationnews ♬ original sound - Scripps News
