More than 1,400 flights have been delayed and over 420 more have been canceled across the United States due to a major global IT outage affecting numerous airlines, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at airports nationwide on a busy summer travel day.
According to FlightAware, among the most impacted airports were Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), Denver International Airport (DIA), Chicago O'Hare International Airport (ORD), Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), and George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).
The issue, which began early Friday morning, is linked to a software update from the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. The update caused several Windows "blue screen of death" errors on airline computers, making it one of the most widespread IT disruptions in recent years.
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Several major U.S. carriers, including American Airlines, Delta and United, grounded flights due to the communication issue, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
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Long lines formed at airports across the country as airlines lost access to check-in and booking services at a time when many travelers are heading away on summer vacations. At some airports, gate agents were writing tickets longhand.
Hartsfield-Jackson, the busiest airport in the country and a major Delta hub, had the most delays, with over 110 recorded. At least 80 flights were cancelled as of late morning after Delta grounded its global flight schedule until the issue was resolved.
Denver International Airport experienced over 130 delays and 20 cancellations.
At O'Hare, another major hub for both domestic and international flights, upwards of 100 delays and 32 cancellations were recorded.
Charlotte Douglas International Airport reported in excess of 110 delays and 20 cancellations.
The New York City area was also affected, with Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) experiencing more than 50 delays and 25 cancellations.
George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston had nearly 79 delays and 21 cancellations. This hub serves both southern U.S. and international flights.
In an emailed statement to Newsweek, CrowdStrike said that the problem was caused by a recent update, which it has since addressed.
"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," the statement said.
The CrowdStrike outage affected not only flights and airports, but also banks, media outlets, hospitals and various other industries and businesses. Problems persisted for hours even after the technology company announced it was gradually fixing an issue affecting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services.
Microsoft first noted problems in the early hours of Friday According to its Service Health page, Microsoft 365 for Consumers is now back up.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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Jesus is a Newsweek Live News Reporter based in New York. Originally from Bogotá, Colombia, his focus is reporting on ... Read more
