Delta COO Mike Spanos Leaving the Airline Weeks After Crowdstrike Outage

Delta Air Lines Chief Operating Officer Mike Spanos is leaving the airline next month. According to Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian’s memo to employees on Friday, Spanos is taking on another role in a different company.  

After just over a year at Delta, this announcement happened weeks after the CrowdStrike outage in July that severely affected the airline’s operations.

CrowdStrike Outage

It was estimated that Delta lost approximately $500 million from the outage. And because of this, the airline is looking to get compensation from both CrowdStrike and Microsoft. Bastian said that he had no choice but to file a case against CrowdStrike. 

CrowdStrike replied to the lawsuit, saying that it was “highly disappointed by Delta’s suggestion that CrowdStrike acted inappropriately and strongly rejects any allegation that it was grossly negligent or committed willful misconduct.”  

It then vowed to “respond aggressively” to Delta’s lawsuit. Mark Cheffo from New York law firm Dechert LLP said, “Our preliminary review suggests that Delta, unlike its competitors, apparently has not modernized its IT infrastructure, either for the benefit of its customers or for its pilots and flight attendants.”

Spanos Considering Other Opportunities

Spanos worked as the CEO of the amusement park chain Six Flags before joining Delta Air Lines. He also has over two decades of experience in leadership roles working with PepsiCo and Pepsi Bottling Group. 

Bastian said that Spanos mentioned earlier in the summer that he was “considering opportunities outside of Delta.” However, Bastian also said earlier that Spanos didn’t lead the response to the CrowdStrike outage because he was new to the industry. 

Spanos’ last day at Delta Air Lines is on August 31. He is expected to receive a severance plus 18 months’ worth of his base salary. In 2023, Spanos made $8.6 million.

So far, Bastian said that the airline doesn’t have plans to replace Spanos. Instead, John Laughter, chief of operations and president of Delta’s TechOps maintenance and overhaul unit, and Allison Ausband, chief customer experience officer, are reporting to Bastian directly.