CrowdStrike’s legal troubles from last month’s massive global computer outage deepened on Monday, as the cybersecurity company was sued by air travelers whose flights were delayed or canceled. In a proposed class action filed in the Austin, Texas, federal court, three fliers blamed CrowdStrike’s negligence in testing and deploying its software for the outage, which also disrupted banks, hospitals and emergency lines around the world. The plaintiffs said that as fliers scrambled to get to their destinations, many spent hundreds of dollars on lodging, meals and alternative travel, while others missed work or suffered health problems from having to sleep on the airport floor. They said CrowdStrike should pay compensatory and punitive damages to anyone whose flight was disrupted, after technology-related flight groundings for Southwest Airlines and other carriers in 2023 made the outage “entirely foreseeable.” CrowdStrike said in a statement: “We believe this case lacks merit and we will vigorously defend the company.” It provided an identical statement in response to a shareholder lawsuit filed on July 31, after the company’s stock price had fallen by about one-third. The outage stemmed from a flawed software update that crashed more than 8 million computers. Delta Air Lines has said it may take legal action against Austin-based CrowdStrike after canceling more than 6,000 flights, at a cost of about $500m. On Sunday, CrowdStrike said it was neither grossly negligent nor at fault for Delta’s problems, and that the Atlanta-based carrier did not accept its offer for help.<br/>
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Half of all airline passenger disputes resolved by Canada's transport regulator over a recent nine-month period have resulted in wins for passengers. According to CBC News analysis of newly available data, Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA) officers ordered airlines to compensate or refund passengers in 50% of the 9,740 cases they resolved between Sept. 30, 2023, and June 30. In most (72.6%) of the rulings favouring the passenger, airlines were ordered to pay compensation for flight disruptions. In the rest, carriers had to reimburse customers for added expenses, or refund flights. In each case, CTA officers issued the ruling after the airline had denied a passenger's claim, and the passenger and the airline failed to resolve the matter. "Half of [the passengers] were right, that they should have been paid and the airlines were wrong," said John Gradek, lecturer and co-ordinator of the aviation management program at McGill University in Montreal. The airlines, he said, "are playing a little fast and loose" with the rules. <br/>
Parts of Frankfurt airport suffered a power outage late on Monday but flights at Germany's busiest hub were not affected, an airport spokesperson told Reuters. Parts of the airport's Terminal One have had no electricity from around 2100 GMT, or 2300 local time, because of a technical defect at an external substation nearby that technicians are dealing with, the spokesperson added. All planned take-offs and landings took place before the airport's ban on night flights began from 2300 until 0500 local time. "The backup power supply has been activated. Even if there were any flights now they would not be affected," said the spokesperson.<br/>
The National Transportation Safety Board said a number of Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems executives will testify at a two-day hearing starting Tuesday on the mid-air blowout of an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 door plug in January. Boeing's senior vice president for quality Elizabeth Lund and Doug Ackerman, vice president of supplier quality for Boeing, are among those that will testify, the NTSB said. Terry George, senior vice president and general manager for Boeing Program at Spirit AeroSystems (SPR.N), opens new tab, and Scott Grabon, a senior director for 737 quality at Spirit, which makes the fuselage for the MAX, will also appear, it added. Last month Boeing agreed to buy back Spirit AeroSystems, whose core plants it spun off in 2005, for $4.7b in stock, and Airbus moved to take on the supplier's loss-making Europe-focused activities. Several FAA officials will also testify at the hearing scheduled to last 20 hours over two days on the blowout of the Alaska Boeing 737 MAX 9 door plug with four missing bolts. The hearing will review issues including 737 manufacturing and inspections, safety management and quality management systems, FAA oversight, and issues surrounding the opening and closing of the door plug. Boeing has said no paperwork exists to document the removal of the bolts. Boeing and the FAA did not immediately comment. A Spirit spokesperson said the company "is fully committed to cooperating with the NTSB in its investigation into this incident". The FAA in January barred Boeing from expanding 737 production. In June, FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said the agency was "too hands off" in oversight of Boeing before January.<br/>
Spirit AeroSystems said on Monday its quarterly losses more than doubled as 737 fuselage shipments to its biggest customer Boeing fell and losses mounted on its Airbus A220 program. Net loss for the second quarter widened to $415m from a loss of $206m, an indication of Spirit's fragile finances and the importance of Boeing's deal to buy back the supplier it spun off in 2005. Spirit said its results were hit by delivery delays on Boeing's strong-selling 737 MAX jet, which saw slower production following a mid-air panel blowout in January. Shares of the supplier were down 2.2% after the bell. Spirit delivered 27 737 fuselages in the quarter through June 27, lower than it anticipated and sharply down from the 74 it delivered in the year-ago period. The company has struggled to stem losses and stabilize cash flows following troubles at Boeing. Its ability to deliver clean 737 fuselages without quality problems will be key for Boeing, which expects to produce the jets at a rate of 38 a month by year-end. The U.S. supplier has also lost money on Airbus' A220 program on higher costs. During the second quarter, Spirit recorded $25m of forward losses on the program. Overall, it recorded net forward losses of $214m in the period. The company said it has developed plans to pursue various options to improve liquidity, as it burnt $597m in cash. Analysts on average expected a cash burn of $169m, according to LSEG data.<br/>