DALLAS — Delta Air Lines (DL) aims to seek damages from CrowdStrike and Microsoft following an IT outage this month that caused millions of computers to crash, leading to thousands of flight cancellations.

According to an CNBC report, the airlines has hired prominent attorney David Boies, chairman of Boies Schiller Flexner, known for representing the U.S. government in its landmark antitrust case against Microsoft.

The Achilles Heel of the Modern World

On July 19, a CrowdStrike software update caused an unprecedented disruption of Microsoft servers, bringing various industries offline.

Airline operations were particularly affected, with the Department of Transportation (DoT) announcing that it was investigating DL, which had prolonged flight interruptions and service problems.

"We have made clear to Delta that they must take care of their passengers and honor their customer service commitments. This is not just the right thing to do," said Buttigieg, "it's the law, and our department will leverage the full extent of our investigative and enforcement power to ensure the rights of Delta's passengers are upheld."

The disruptions are believed to have cost DL between US$350 million and US$500 million. The Atlanta-based carrier is handling almost 176,000 refund or reimbursement requests after over 7,000 flights were canceled.