Global IT outage paralyzes air travel
A sweeping IT outage has caused significant disruption across multiple sectors worldwide, grounding flights, affecting banks, and impacting air travel, emergency services and hospitals. Major airlines in the United States have halted flights nationwide due to communication failures linked to the global tech crisis.
American Airlines, the largest airline globally by passenger volume, confirmed to the BBC that it had stopped all departures, although flights already airborne were continuing to their destinations. The airline attributed the grounding to a technical malfunction in Crowdstrike’s antivirus software, though the company has yet to respond to inquiries regarding the issue.
Reports emerging suggest a recent software update from Crowdstrike might be causing Windows devices to crash, though these claims remain unconfirmed. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a comprehensive grounding order for flights across the U.S., impacting all destinations, as detailed in an AFP report.
The outage has not only affected major carriers like Delta and United but also smaller airlines. Frontier Airlines reported significant disruptions due to a “major Microsoft technical outage,” leading to widespread cancellations and delays. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg acknowledged the severity of the situation, noting his department was closely monitoring the disruptions.
Internationally, the IT outage has also forced groundings and delays. Tokyo’s Narita Airport reported disruptions for airlines such as JetStar and Qantas, among others. Similarly, operations at Delhi’s airport in India and Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport have experienced significant setbacks. Schiphol’s spokesperson highlighted ongoing delays, though the full extent of the impact remains uncertain.
European carriers are also facing challenges. Lufthansa and SAS Airline noted disruptions in their booking systems, with SAS asserting that while other services were operational, booking issues persisted. Additionally, Prague Airport reported delays due to check-in system failures, and Eurowings indicated that its online check-in services were down.
Even in Northern Ireland, the Belfast International Airport experienced technical difficulties, though flights were still operational. Meanwhile, Zurich Airport in Switzerland reported that incoming flights were not permitted to land due to the outage.
The situation is evolving as IT teams worldwide work diligently to resolve the issues and restore normal operations across the affected sectors.
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