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Last night, I wrote about Frontier Airlines having a tech issue that caused a ground stop that impacted around 45% of its flights (more here). That was just the tip of the iceberg as an IT outage became much more widespread globally and ended up bringing airports, airlines, banks, and other institutions to a standstill overnight as Microsoft-based computers running software from CrowdStrike (a cybersecurity company that provides cloud workload protection, threat intelligence, and cyberattack response services) stopped functioning. A fix has been identified and is being deployed, but not before causing a total travel meltdown.
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 CEO took to social media this morning to address the issue. In his post, he said:
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 refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website. We further recommend organizations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers.”
This issue impacted more than 300,000 computers in 150 different countries. With this glitch, airlines began to delay and cancel flights. American, Delta, United, and others have issued ground stops and the sheer magnitude of the number of flights impacted is staggering. Here is the latest from the US airlines:
Earlier this morning, a technical issue with a vendor impacted multiple carriers, including American. As of 5:00 a.m. ET, we have been able to safely re-establish our operation. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.
— americanair (@AmericanAir) July 19, 2024
American has restarted its operation as of 5:00 AM EST.
Delta has resumed some flights after a vendor technology issue impacting airlines and businesses globally. We’ve issued a travel waiver and customers can monitor and manage their itineraries on https://t.co/oAYy2BBlGo or the Fly Delta app. For more info: https://t.co/GSbpUNpU9d
— Delta (@Delta) July 19, 2024
Delta has resumed some flights and issued a travel waiver.
A third-party vendor is experiencing a global technology outage that is impacting Spirit’s reservations system and flight operations. We apologize to our Guests for the inconvenience. We encourage Guests traveling today, July 19, to check here for updates before going to the… pic.twitter.com/hJ3U8QhQr9
— Spirit Airlines (@SpiritAirlines) July 19, 2024
Spirit Airlines has also resumed operations, but urges passengers to check schedules.
For customers at the airport experiencing cancellations, we cannot rebook you at this time at the ticket counter, via phone, or online while our systems continue to be down. Once the third-party systems come back online we can assist you.
— Sun Country Airlines (@SunCountryAir) July 19, 2024
Sun Country Airlines is still unable to assist customers.
A third-party outage is impacting computer systems, including at United and many other organizations worldwide.
As we work to fully restore these systems, some flights are resuming. Many customers traveling today may experience delays.
We have issued a waiver to make it easier…
— United Airlines (@united) July 19, 2024
United Airlines has resumed some flights and also issued a waiver.
It’s not just the United States that is feeling the impact. Several carriers in Europe saw operations impacted as well.
A global IT failure is currently affecting several airlines and airports around the world.
Our operations remain close to normal, at this stage only certain flights to Amsterdam and Berlin are disrupted.
Other flights are departing and arriving normally, but delays cannot be… pic.twitter.com/XRWaPOyXLB— Air France (@airfrance) July 19, 2024
Air France saw impacts in Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS) and Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER).
Update 12:30.
KLM has announced that limited air traffic is currently possible, following a global computer outage affecting airlines, airports and others. Customers should expect delays and cancellations. We urge passengers to stay away from the airport if their flight is not… https://t.co/kWtzXF1RhE— KLM (@KLM) July 19, 2024
KLM is warning customers to expect delays and cancellations.
As of 8:30 AM CST, FlightAware is showing the following stats:
- Total delays today: 23,929
- Total delays within, into, or out of the United States today: 3,265
- Total cancellations today: 2,332
- Total cancellations within, into, or out of the United States today: 1,354
The top 10 airports seeing the biggest impacts include:
- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL)
- Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS)
- Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP)
- New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA)
- Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD)
- Zurich Airport (ZRH)
- Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER)
- Istanbul Airport (IST)
- Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT)
- Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH)
It’s not surprising that these are mostly hubs for carriers in the US and Europe.
12-hour timelapse of American Airlines, Delta, and United plane traffic after what was likely the biggest IT outage in history forced a nationwide ground stop of the three airlines. pic.twitter.com/wwcQeiEtVe
— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) July 19, 2024
The time lapse above gives a good picture of what this has looked like today.
Anthony’s Take: I’m glad I’m not flying today. If you are, use the airline’s app or website for the latest status of your flight, be patient with staff, and shift plans to another day if possible. Hang in there, everyone.
(Featured ImageCredit: Mimadeo.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
