Delta facing class action lawsuit over tech outage; customers seeking refunds

abcnews.go.com:

Delta Air Lines is facing a class action lawsuit, which claims the airline refused to give refunds following a global technology outage last month

Delta Air Lines is facing a class action lawsuit, which claims the airline refused to give refunds following a global technology outage last month. The airline replied that it will go after the tech companies behind the snafu.

Among airlines, Delta was by far the hardest hit hard by the outage, having to cancel roughly 7,000 flights over five days, because key systems were crippled by the incident.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division on behalf of Delta customers impacted by the outage. In it, the customers allege that Delta refused or ignored their requests for prompt refunds for their canceled or delayed flights.

The complaint also claims Delta didn't provide all impacted passengers with meal, hotel, and ground transportation vouchers and continues to refuse or ignore requests for reimbursements of those unexpected expenses.

“These unfair, unlawful, and unconscionable practices resulted in Delta unjustly enriching itself at the expense of its customers,” the lawsuit states.

The complaint states the plaintiffs are seeking refunds for all Delta customers whose flights were canceled or significantly affected due to the outage.

Delta, based in Atlanta, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But in a regulatory filing, the carrier said it will spend $380 million in the third quarter on customer refunds and compensation related to the outage. Other expenses total an estimated $170 million, but quarterly fuel expense is estimated to be $50 million lower due to the cancelations.

The U.S.