CrowdStrike crisis highlights concerning lack of protection for Australian airline customers

A botched software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, which had a cascading effect on global IT systems, impacted airlines to such an extent that, five days later, passengers are still only now returning to destinations they’d been travelling to over the weekend. Crikey knows of at least one case where passengers due to fly last Friday will not return to Australia from the United States until Thursday.

This event should be the poster child for why Australia needs an airline passenger guarantee system — assuring compensation, refunds or rerouting by an airline in the case of delays or cancellation — in line with those operating in the European