Angry Passengers Sue CrowdStrike Over Outage-Related Flight Cancellations

Three consumers file a class-action lawsuit against CrowdStrike after they were forced to wait for hours at the airport and pay for new flights and ground transportation.

Several consumers filed a class-action lawsuit against CrowdStrike today, claiming the company should pay damages for the July 19 outage that resulted in thousands of airline cancellations.

The trio filed the lawsuit in a Texas district court, saying the outage canceled or delayed their flights, forcing them to pay extra fees and deal with physical stress.

“Faced with increasingly long delays and mounting flight cancellations, many travelers had no option but to spend hundreds of dollars or more on additional meals, lodging, or other travel arrangements as they desperately sought a way to their destination,” the lawsuit says. “This action seeks to remedy these consequences of CrowdStrike’s negligence.”

One plaintiff, Julio del Rio of California, has his flight from Hawaii to Los Angeles canceled, and he ended up paying $1,200 for a new ticket to bring him to San Francisco after being stranded for 11 hours at Hawaii’s Kona International Airport.

“Plaintiff del Rio had no other options but to sleep on benches or the floor during the 11-hour delay. As a result, Plaintiff del Rio developed pain in his neck and back which lasted for several days,” the lawsuit says.

In addition, del Rio hasn’t received a refund for his original ticket. Upon landing in San Francisco, he tried to buy a ticket to Los Angeles.

But thanks to the outage, his only option was to buy a ticket traveling from the San Jose airport to Burbank, California. This saddled him with another $80 Uber ride-share fare to take him from San Francisco to San Jose.

“As a result of the nearly 17 extra hours of travel, Plaintiff del Rio was forced to use his accrued paid time off to miss an additional day of work,” the lawsuit adds.

Another plaintiff, Jack Murphy of Ohio, also experienced a flight cancellation due to the outage. He was able to fly back to Cleveland on July 20, arriving at 2:30 a.m. local time.  

“Due to the late hour, Plaintiff Murphy could not hire an Uber to drive him from the Cleveland airport to his home. As a result, Plaintiff Murphy’s wife was forced to drive to the airport to pick up Plaintiff Murphy, a trip of approximately 45 minutes each way,” the lawsuit says.

Murphy didn’t arrive home until 3:30 a.m., “which severely interrupted Plaintiff Murphy’s normal sleep schedule,” the complaint adds. “The disruption to Plaintiff Murphy’s sleep schedule caused him to suffer a migraine during the day of July 20, 2024. Plaintiff Murphy experienced dizziness, pains in his head, sensitivity to light, and nausea due to the migraine.”

The lawsuit is demanding compensation from CrowdStrike, claiming the cybersecurity vendor was negligent, created a public nuisance, and committed unlawful business acts under California's Unfair Competition Law. The lawsuit is seeking class-action status for “persons who were traveling by plane and who had flights delayed or canceled as a result of the CrowdStrike Outage" — but only in California, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, where the three plaintiffs reside.

Still, the lawsuit estimates "millions" of on individuals may have been affected since thousands of flights were canceled on July 19 and the following days.

This was especially true for Delta Air Lines, which is also preparing to sue CrowdStrike. However, CrowdStrike claims that it reached out to Delta to offer "onsite assistance," but Delta ignored it and then declined the offer. Last month, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the agency was concerned that Delta was not adequately compensating passengers after cancelling flights.

CrowdStrike didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But the company said last week it had already restored over 99% of affected Windows computers

A group of company shareholders is also suing CrowdStrike for the outage tanking the cybersecurity vendor’s stock price.

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