I went to bed last night thinking about the Microsoft Azure issues affecting Allegiant and some other ULCCs but woke up to the news of a massive IT outage that is impacting airlines and airports around the globe.
The issues seem to stem from a software update issued by cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike. The company’s CEO, George Kurtz, issued a statement on Twitter/X regarding the outage and confirmed that it was not due to a security incident or cyberattack.
CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. We…
— George Kurtz (@George_Kurtz) July 19, 2024
Crowdstrike’s cybersecurity software is used by a number of airlines, airports, banks, hospitals, and many other Fortune 500 companies to detect and block hacking threats. It appears that the issue at hand is causing computers running Microsoft Windows to crash due to the faulty code.
Many Airlines Have Been Affected by the Outage
The number of airlines and airports affected by the outage is staggering. Here in the United states, all of the big three carriers, American, Delta, and United appear to have issues. Delta’s appear to be the most severe.
- American reported a “technology issue” early this morning but was able to re-establish its operation as of 5:00a ET this morning.
- United acknowledged system disruptions but stated they were able to begin resuming some flights.
- Delta issued a full ground stop due to the issue but was able to restart some departures globally roughly an hour ago.
Other carriers such as Allegiant, Frontier, Sun Country and Spirit have also reported issues due to the outage. Frontier had a seemingly separate issue yesterday evening that forced it to temporarily suspend flights.
The issues aren’t limited to the United States as airlines and airports around the world have been affected. According to Flight Aware, over 2,500 flights globally have been cancelled with another 25,000+ delayed.
In the Netherlands, KLM issued a statement saying that the outage has made flight handling “impossible”. Zurich Airport has continued to provide travelers with updates via its website and stated that over 100 flights to and from the airport have been cancelled.
While systems appear to gradually be coming back online, or workarounds being put in place, the disruptions from this massive IT outage will affect airlines’ operations for days. If you’re traveling over the next day or two, check the status of your flight with your airline before heading to the airport.
Summary
A software update from the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike sent global aviation, and many other industries, into a tailspin earlier this morning. The outage has affected dozens of airlines round the globe and caused the cancellation of thousands of flights. While operations have resumed, it will likely take a couple of days for things to return to normal. Be sure to check the status of your flight with your airline prior to heading to the airport.
