On Friday, a flawed update from US cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike caused Windows computers around the world to crash, displaying the dreaded “blue screen of death.” The outage hit global airlines particularly hard, disrupting thousands of flights as staff scrambled to get systems up and running again. Some airlines, such as US carrier Delta Air Lines, are still struggling.
Tony Fernandes, chief executive of Capital A, owner of budget carrier AirAsia, said he was “100 percent demanding” compensation from Microsoft, the developer of the Windows operating system.
“If I miss my flight, you’re going to come after me for a refund, right? Or if I cancel my flight, that means I need to refund you,” Fernandez He told reporters At an event in Subang, Malaysia.
“The principle is that if we make a mistake, we must compensate. They made a mistake. We and other airlines have lost a lot,” he said.
Total Financial Losses Due to CrowdStrike Service Outage It may reach a height of Insurance firm Parametrics on Wednesday estimated the cost at about $15 billion. The cost to Fortune 500 companies alone could exceed $5 billion.
Malaysia’s digital minister also weighed in. On Wednesday, Gobind Singh Deo suggested to reporters that five government agencies and nine companies were among those affected in Malaysia, and that he had met with representatives from Microsoft and CrowdStrike to get a full report, according to Reuters.
Services at Asian airports had to be run manually when the outage first occurred on Friday, with passengers experiencing delays at Singapore’s Changi Airport and Hong Kong International Airport. The outage has affected services In more than 10 airlines In Singapore and At least five In Hong Kong, according to local media reports.
Airlines are still trying to regain their footing after Friday’s service outage. Still canceling Hundreds of flights, with More than 6,000 flight cancellations Since the outage began, it has been the hardest hit major U.S. airline and is now under investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Fernandez has been at war with Microsoft and CrowdStrike since the outage, and on Sunday, the airline’s CEO complained in a LinkedIn post that “tech companies don’t empathize” with what airlines have been through during the pandemic.
“Now they have issues they expect us all to understand. Well, I won’t. The airlines need answers and compensation,” he wrote.
