Editor note: This article has been updated with the latest information.
A global Windows operating system glitch has caused significant disruptions across various industries worldwide, including travel.
The major IT outage has grounded flights and caused more than 1,300 flight cancelations as well as disrupted banking operations, and even temporarily took Sky News off the air in the U.K.
Here’s a breakdown of what happened, the cause of the issue, who’s affected, and what you should do if your travel plans are impacted.
What has happened?
In an unexpected turn of events, a global Windows glitch has wreaked havoc on IT infrastructure worldwide.
This unforeseen technical issue has grounded flights and caused widespread delays and operational disruptions across various travel sectors, including airlines and trains.
Globally there were around 110,000 scheduled commercial flights set for departure today, more than 27,000 of which were set to depart the U.S. Thus far, 512 flights from U.S. origins have been canceled, amounting to 1.91% of U.S. departing flights — significantly higher than what is usually seen at this time of day, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium. More than 20 departing flights have been canceled in Canada so far, among numerous delays.
Globally 1,390 flights have now been canceled and this number is still growing as of 6 a.m. EST. It is expected that this could cause further disruptions across the weekend as airlines look to get back on track.
In a statement to TPG, a spokesperson for the FAA said:
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“The FAA is closely monitoring a technical issue impacting IT systems at U.S. airlines. Several airlines have requested FAA assistance with ground stops for their fleets until the issue is resolved.”
In particular, the IT outage has come during the busiest day of the year so far for U.K. airlines. Cirium data shows over 3,214 U.K. flight departures were expected today (Jul. 19), the highest number since Oct. 2019. More than 9,000 flights are currently scheduled to depart from U.K. airports alone over the next two days.
Germany has seen more than 90 departure flight cancelations so far; France is fairing slightly better with 28 cancelations, and Italy has 45 flight cancelations.
What is the cause of the IT outage?
The cause of the outage was caused by a problematic update released by Crowdstrike, an Australian cybersecurity firm.
“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,” a spokesperson for CrowdStike told TPG in a statement. “The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”
The cybersecurity company confirmed that the tech issues were not a result of a security incident or cyberattack, adding that there team is “fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers.”
American Airlines confirmed with TPG this morning that the technical issue was affecting multiple carriers and that the airline was “working with CrowdStrike to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.”
The update released by Crowdstrike reportedly left Windows PCs showing the infamous “blue screen of death,” rendering them unusable.
Who is affected?
The outage has affected numerous major companies and services globally with reports of the outages affecting organizations such as Delta Airlines, Visa, Mastercard, Lloyds Bank, Santander, Amazon, RyanAir, Sky News, and Microsoft Teams.
In the U.S., major airlines Delta, United and American Airlines were all forced to put a ground stop on departing flights while they investigated the issue.
As of 5 a.m. EST, the initial outages seem to be slowly reaching a resolution, and American Airlines has since resumed its outbound operations.
An American Airlines spokesperson said: “Earlier this morning, a technical issue with a vendor impacted multiple carriers, including American. As of 5 a.m. ET, we have been able to safely re-establish our operation. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.”
United Airlines also saw departure flights grounded this morning, though was able to resume operations at around 5:20 a.m. EST this morning. A United spokesperson told TPG: “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.”
Across the pond, British Airways has said that they anticipate flight disruption today.
“Due to the widely reported global Microsoft IT outage, some of our flights are likely to experience disruption today,” said a British Airways spokesperson. “This has caused issues across our operational systems, and our teams are working hard to manage and limit the impact on our customers as far as we’re able to.”
Virgin Atlantic, meanwhile, appeared to be fairing a little better with regard to direct impacts from the outage, though it could potentially be affected by the residual impacts.
“This is currently not impacting our flying programme, however, flights may be subject to some delays,” a Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said, “We are monitoring the situation closely and working with our airport teams and partners to minimise any disruption.”
At U.K. airports, there are reports that the glitch has affected barcode ticket scanners at London Gatwick Airport (LGW), slowing down security screening processes while checks are performed manually.
A Heathrow Airport (LHR) spokesperson told TPG that flights are currently operational and that the airport was “implementing contingency plans to minimise any impact on journeys.” Heathrow advises all passengers traveling today to check with their airline for the latest flight information.
London Stansted Airport (STN) currently appears unaffected with flights operating as normal.
Within Europe, Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) is currently experiencing delays for around 20% of its departing flights according to Flight Aware.
Berlin-Brandenburg (BER) has currently canceled 12% of its flights set for departure today.
Beyond airports and airlines, the outage is also affecting operations on train services, hotels and theme parks.
TPG’s Director of Content, Summer Hull, has reported that Park Hyatt Paris was resorting to pen and paper for bills and receipts due to its computer systems going down. Meanwhile, Disneyland Paris was also using paper printouts to display ride wait times.
Menu screens displaying the dreaded “blue screen of death” were also spotted at restaurants within Disneyland Paris.
Elsewhere, TPG Senior Editor Becky Blaine was unable to check into her NH Essen hotel in Germany, and hotel guests were being let into their rooms by a member of staff with a master key after the key card machine suffered issues due to the outage.
Over in the U.S., Senior Aviation Business Reporter David Slotnick was on hand to see a small cluster of delays and cancelations at 5:41 a.m. EDT from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS).
Govia Thameslink Railway, the UK’s busiest train operator, has reported widespread IT problems, leading to potential train cancellations and disruptions in real-time information. Sky News was also forced to temporarily go offline in the U.K. this morning, displaying an error message to viewers.
Eurostar has confirmed with TPG that its services have not been affected by the IT outage, though some of its partners may see disruptions later in the day, they “haven’t seen this yet.”
What should I do if I’m affected?
You should be both proactive and realistic if your flight is delayed or canceled.
Download your airlines app
Start by regularly monitoring your flight status on the airline’s website or app. If you haven’t downloaded your airline’s app, now is a good time to do it because it often has more up-to-date flight departure information than what’s on the departure and arrival boards at the airport.
Sign up for notifications, whether app notifications, text messages or email, so that you can be alerted as quickly as possible about any changes to your travel plans. Here are details on that process with American Airlines and United Airlines.
Monitor your flight ahead of time
We also recommend monitoring where your plane is coming from, which may help to understand the likelihood of your flight departing and when that might be. Your airline’s app may show this, or else we like Flightradar24, which shows the location of every aircraft in the world at the present moment. By searching for your flight number on Flightradar24, you can find the exact aircraft that will operate it (by following the aircraft’s serial number/registration). If the plane operating your flight will operate another sector before yours and it has not yet left that airport despite your flight schedule to board soon, your flight will likely be delayed because the inbound aircraft will be late.
Expect to be put on hold
Calling the operating airline is not advisable as you can expect long wait times and overwhelmed agents who may be unable to provide any additional information beyond what you already know about your flight. This is an ongoing situation that is affecting pretty much all travelers right now.
Stay calm and know your rights
If your flight is canceled, you should be automatically rebooked on another service by your airline, noting that depending on the severity of this outage on your airline, that new flight may be many hours, if not days, after your original departure time.
You can proactively look for other flight options if you have not yet been booked onto a new service or the new flight is unsuitable. This can usually be rebooked through the airline’s app. It’s best to do this as quickly as possible, as other affected passengers scramble to book these alternate services.
If you are flying to or from Europe, delays and cancelations would not be eligible for EU261 compensation as this issue is beyond the airline’s control.
Arrive at the airport on time and be understanding
If your flight is still listed as “on time” when you check the app, leave for the airport according to the original schedule. If possible, allow some extra time for check-in and to pass security, just in case. So, if you normally arrive at the airport two hours before departure, try arriving three hours before departure today.
Finally, be realistic about the situation and be kind to frontline airline and airport staff. Even if this outage is fixed quickly, the flow-on effect could last days during such a busy travel period. Thousands of other passengers are caught up in this situation beyond the airline’s control, and many people will have their travel delayed or canceled. The airline staff will face many unhappy passengers today and through the weekend, so please be patient with them and help them get you on your way as quickly as possible.
Related: Flight canceled or delayed? Here’s what to do next
Bottom line
There are widespread delays and cancelations across the globe this morning following an IT outage caused by a software update issued by cybersecurity company CrowdStrike. The situation is currently still developing, though the root cause does appear to have been addressed by Crowdstrike, and flights are beginning to depart once again. However, due to the scale of the outage, we’d expect to see some ongoing impacts across the weekend as airlines look to resolve this morning’s delays and cancelations.
