Delta Air Lines has told employees that they will get two free flights to any destination in its global network to thank them for their ‘heroic’ actions during its biggest-ever operational meltdown last month following a failed CrowdStrike software update that plunged the Atlanta-based carrier into chaos.
In a memo sent to staffers on Friday and leaked by aviation insider @xJonNYC on X, Delta told staffers would get two so-called “positive space passes to any destination we serve worldwide for eligible Delta employees”.
The memo continued: “Your efforts have been nothing short of heroic… I know it’s been extremely difficult, and I’m deeply sorry for what you have endured. An operational disruption of this length and magnitude is simply unacceptable – you and our customers deserve better.”
Earlier this week, Delta CEO Ed Bastian revealed that the meltdown had cost the airline at least $500 million after it was forced to cancel more than 5,000 flights and delay many more after it lost track of where its pilots and flight attendants were in its network.
Despite the fact that other airlines were able to quickly recover from the CrowdStrike big, Bastian has laid the blame for the chaos that endured for five days at Delta firmly at the door of the IT security firm, along with Microsoft, whose operating system was affected by the outage.
In the latest memo, Bastian confirmed that Delta has hired a “premier law firm with significant litigation experience” to recover all the losses that the airline has racked up as a result of the meltdown.
CrowdStrike hasn’t proactively offered any monetary compensation to Delta and the airline has already informed the company that a lawsuit is pending.
After taking flak for the compensation it was offering customers left stranded by its meltdown, Delta says it “remains focused” on taking care of passengers and is offering refunds and reimbursements for expenses built up by customers during the days-long disruption.
Delta remains under investigation by the Department of Transportation (DOT) over what caused its operational meltdown and the way it initially treated stranded passengers. The airline says it is fully cooperating with the investigation.
Bastian now acknowledges that the meltdown has left a significant dent in Delta’s reputation, and it will be no mean feat to restore faith in an airline that was once lauded for its operational reliability and on-time performance.
