A global software outage was wreaking havoc on airlines and other industries across the globe Friday morning, causing 1,000 flight cancellations and counting with the prospect of disruptions extending through the day and even the rest of the weekend.
The problems began overnight Friday when many Microsoft computer systems went offline due to a faulty update with a common cybersecurity software called CrowdStrike. By early Friday morning, CrowdStrike's CEO said on social media that the problem was not caused by a cyberattack – and that a fix had already been deployed.
But it was too late to stave off disruptions for travelers, who faced long lines, delays, and cancellations at airports across the globe as airlines struggled to keep things moving manually. While the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said it wasn't experiencing any technology snafus as a result of Friday's outage, airlines' woes brought travel to a standstill.
Nearly 1,200 flights in the U.S. had been canceled as of 7:30 a.m. CT, according to FlightAware, with another 2,600 flights delayed and counting. But that tally is likely to grow throughout the day as the morning pause left airline crews and planes out of place, unable to catch up in time for the next flight.
After a temporary grounding, Delta said it would begin resuming flights around 7 a.m while American Airlines said it had “been able to safely re-establish our operation” even earlier.
“Delta has resumed some flight departures after a vendor technology issue impacted several airlines and businesses around the world. That issue necessitated a pause in Delta’s global flight schedule this morning while it was addressed,” Delta said in a statement. “Additional delays and cancellations are expected Friday.”
Along with United, the nation's three largest carriers all issued waivers allowing travelers to rebook flights without fees or fare differences as far out as next Wednesday or Thursday.
Other flyers were luckier. Southwest, Alaska, JetBlue, and other carriers appeared to escape the outage unscathed, with few (if any) flight disruptions expected for the day, according to FlightAware.
After years of meltdowns as travel bounced back from the pandemic, the U.S. airline industry had kept flights running smoothly … until now. It's a stark reminder: In the endlessly complex world of airlines, all it takes is one small storm, labor dispute, or a third-party IT outage to start a snowball effect, causing mass disruptions.
This is a developing news story, check back for updates