Thousands of flights temporarily grounded after major global IT outage

Thousands of flights were temporarily grounded Friday after a major global IT outage caused airline computers to become inoperable. Some flights were resuming Friday morning, but airlines were warning customers of delays and disruptions throughout the day.

The outage apparently stemmed from a software update issued by major US cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which is widely used by businesses for managing security on Windows PCs — including by most major airlines.

Long lines were being reported at dozens of airports, including Hong Kong, Berlin, Amsterdam, Denver, and Manchester, according to The New York Times. Departure areas were filling up with distressed travelers as check-out computers were offline.

A TikTok from Atlanta’s airport showed the display computers behind the check-in counters displaying the Blue Screen of Death.

The outage was spurring some airlines to revert to more analog methods. A traveler in India posted on X about receiving his first-ever handwritten boarding pass.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was “closely monitoring” the situation and was responding to airline requests for assistance with ground stops until the outage was resolved.

As of 9:05AM ET Friday, FlightAware’s Misery Map showed 1,401 delays and 365 cancellations across the US. The airport with the most disruptions was Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, with 170 delays and 73 cancellations. Globally, FlightAware says there are a total of 20,465 delays on Friday.

Here’s what Delta Air Lines is saying:

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.

Additional delays and cancelations are expected Friday.

Delta has issued a travel waiver for all customers who have booked flights departing Friday, July 19. It allows customers to manage their own travel changes via delta.com and the Fly Delta app.

The fare difference for customers will be waived when rebooked travel occurs on or before July 24, in the same cabin of service as originally booked. If travel is rebooked after July 24, any difference in fare between the original ticket and the new ticket will be collected at the time of booking.

Customers can monitor and manage their itineraries on Delta.com or on the Fly Delta app.

And United Airlines:

A third-party software outage impacted computer systems worldwide, including at United. We are resuming some flights but expect schedule disruptions to continue throughout Friday. We have issued a waiver to make it easier for customers to change their travel plans via United.com or the United app.

American Airlines said that as of 5AM ET, it was able to “re-establish” its operations.

Earlier this morning, a widespread technology issue with a vendor impacted multiple airlines, including American. Our teams have been working diligently to resolve the issue with the vendor and take care of our customers.

As of 5 a.m. ET, we were able to safely reestablish our operation. We expect there will be impact to our flight schedule today, including delays and cancellations.

American will notify customers whose flight plans are affected via the American Airlines app or text message. Please continue to check the American Airlines app or aa.com for the latest on flight statuses.

A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines declined to comment, citing “no impact” on the carrier’s flight status.

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