A global outage of CrowdStrike software in July 2024 caused a system meltdown at Delta Air Lines. The disruption affected 1.3 million passengers and led to a financial loss of about $500 million for the airline [1, 2, 3].
The Biden administration opened an investigation shortly after the event, focusing on Delta’s slow recovery compared with other major airlines [1, 2, 3].
On June 15, 2026, the US Transportation Department (USDOT), under the Trump administration, announced it was closing the investigation without seeking penalties against Delta [1, 2, 3]. A USDOT spokesperson said, "Delta’s passengers received prompt refunds, adequate baggage assistance, and appropriate assistance for passengers with disabilities" [1].
Delta Airlines expressed gratitude for the investigation's closure, highlighting its extensive customer care efforts. The airline noted it paid millions of dollars for refunds, hotels, food, and baggage assistance to affected travelers [1, 3].
This decision aligns with the Trump administration’s broader rollback of aviation consumer protection measures introduced under the Biden administration, which included waiving significant fines against other airlines such as Southwest and American Airlines [1, 3].
The outage timeline began in July 2024 with the CrowdStrike software failure, followed by the Biden administration’s investigation. The USDOT made the decision to close the case by November 2025 before publicly announcing it in June 2026 [1, 2, 3].
