Delta Faces $500 Million Loss from Tech Outage, Eyes Strong Holiday Bookings

Delta Air Lines reports a challenging third quarter due to a global IT outage but anticipates recovery with robust holiday travel demand.

Delta's third-quarter earnings dropped 26% to $971 million, significantly impacted by a global technology outage caused by a CrowdStrike software update.
The outage resulted in approximately 7,000 flight cancellations and a $380 million loss in revenue, alongside $170 million in customer and crew compensation costs.
Despite the setback, Delta's revenue grew slightly to $15.68 billion, driven by strong demand for premium seating and loyalty programs.
CEO Ed Bastian expects a temporary dip in travel demand around the U.S. presidential election but forecasts a strong fourth quarter with increased holiday bookings.
Delta is seeking compensation from CrowdStrike and Microsoft for the outage-related disruptions and plans to update its crew tracking system to prevent future issues.