Microsoft blames Delta after CrowdStrike outage, says Satya Nadella’s email was 'ignored'

Microsoft has responded to Delta Air Lines’ criticism of Windows and CrowdStrike after the global IT outage, which caused a blue screen of death (BSO) issue on multiple Windows PCs. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian had filed compensation from both CrowdStrike and Microsoft for an estimated $500 million, because of this massive outage.

However, now according to a letter sent by Microsoft to Delta via The Verge, the IT giant has stated that Delta refused its free help on multiple occasions and even ignored an email from its CEO Satya Nadella to Bastian. Microsoft also added that they reached out to Delta to give technical support every day from July 19 through July 23, and each time Delta turned down Microsoft’s offers to help.

The letter has been sent by Mark Cheffo, co-chair of Dechert’s global litigation practice, and presented on behalf of Microsoft to Delta Air Lines lawyers. In the letter, Cheffo added that Delta's reliance on older technology was the main reason for the widespread impact of the CrowdStrike outage on Delta’s servers. Currently, the crew tracking and scheduling system of the airline company is managed by IBM.

Earlier last week, Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian gave an interview with CNBC where he criticised Microsoft's reliability, asking, "When was the last time you heard of a big outage at Apple?" And by the looks of it, this dispute will continue in the coming weeks and it will be interesting to see how Delta responds to Microsoft’s allegations.