On Thursday, 18 July 2024, a significant Microsoft outage resulted in extensive travel disruptions, primarily affecting Frontier Airlines and potentially impacting other carriers across the United States.
The outage was later traced to the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike which said that a ‘content update’ was the source of the problem.
Impact on Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines, a prominent low-cost carrier, experienced severe disruptions to its critical systems due to the Microsoft outage. The airline faced difficulties in various operational areas, including:
- Flight bookings
- Passenger check-ins
- Access to boarding passes
As a consequence, Frontier implemented a nationwide ground stop, leading to numerous flight delays and cancellations. Thousands of travelers found themselves affected at airports throughout the country.
It is understood that the airline was forced to cancel over 100 flights on Thursday and delay over 200 more. This represented approximately 30% of the flight scheduling affected as a result of the outage.
Frontier Airlines utilized social media platforms to communicate with affected passengers, providing updates on the situation and requesting patience.
The airline stated that it was actively collaborating with Microsoft to resolve the issue and restore normal operations as swiftly as possible.
Broader Industry Impact
While Frontier Airlines appeared to be the most severely affected, preliminary reports suggest that other airlines may have also experienced disruptions stemming from the Microsoft outage.
Sun Country and Allegiant
Sun Country Airlines similarly reported issues with some of their services becoming unavailable earlier today.
The airline issued a statement saying that the global outage was affecting several airlines. Sun Country have now restored services.
According to a CNN report, Allegiant Air also reported problems with their website. “The Allegiant website is currently unavailable due to the Microsoft Azure issue,” the carrier stated earlier today.
The full extent of the impact on other carriers remains to be determined.
Microsoft Azure Outage
Microsoft confirmed a systems outage which relates to its Azure cloud software.
“Starting at approximately 21:56 UTC on 18 Jul 2024, a subset of customers may experience issues with multiple Azure services in the Central US region including failures with service management operations and connectivity or availability of services.”
As of the time of this report, Microsoft has not issued an official statement regarding the cause of the outage or its estimated resolution time.
Further Updates to Follow
This incident underscores the critical dependence of modern aviation on technology infrastructure. Major tech outages can lead to significant disruptions in air travel.
We will provide further updates and developments as they come to hand.
Further International Airlines Affected
Reports now coming through that several major airlines and carriers are now affected by what is a major worldwide outage.
Cybersecurity platform CrowdStrike is “down” worldwide, causing global IT problems, Microsoft crashes, 911 outages across several US states, and disruptions in international airlines, banks and media outlets.
Ryanair has posted advice of service disruptions earlier today.
FAA Grounds Delta, United & American Flights
Reports are coming in that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has grounded flights from major U.S carriers such as Delta, United and American.
All of Spain’s Airports Affected…
All of Spain’s airports have also been impacted by the IT outage this morning.
Hong Kong Airport Switching To Manual Check-In
Hong Kong International Airport has switched to manual check-in procedures due to the IT outages.
Amsterdam Airport Also Affected…
Amsterdam Airport has also been affected, with disruptions reported.
Berlin Airport Suspends Flights…
In the last hour, Berlin Airport has also confirmed the suspension of flights.
Airports in the U.S Also Affected…
Several airports in the U.S have also been affected by this IT system outage.
Singapore Changi Airport on Manual Check-In
Singapore Changi Airport has also switched to manual check-in.
Prague Airport Reporting Disruptions…
Prague Airport also now reporting disruption.
Edinburgh Airport Affected…
Edinburgh Airport also affected.
Delhi Airport Impacted…
Delhi Airport has also been affected by the IT outage this morning.
KLM Releases Statement…
KLM has released a statement on today’s outage.
SpiceJet in India Releases Statement…
SpiceJet has released a statement on the Microsoft outage.
Akasa Air Releases Statement…
Akasa Air has also released a statement. Reports coming through that the Microsoft outage has affected a lot of companies on the Indian subcontinent.
Hand-Written Boarding Passes…
This sets the scene. A passenger receiving a hand-written boarding pass in the wake of the Microsoft outage.
All Delta Flights Paused…
Delta Air Lines confirms all flights are suspended pending additional updates.
Gatwick Airport Affected…
Gatwick Airport confirms disruption.
Australian Disruptions and Outages
Services at Melbourne and Sydney Airports have been reported as being disrupted.
Cirium Data on Current UK Flight Cancellations
With Microsoft’s outage coinciding with the school holidays beginning for many across the UK, data analyst firm Cirium has revealed the number of scheduled departures from UK airports this weekend and the current number of cancellations.
Analysis reveals that today, 19 July, is set to be the busiest day for UK flight departures so far this year.
Over 3,214 departures were planned today – the highest number of daily UK departures since October 2019.
Current Flight Status Globally
So far today, over 1,000 (1,078) flights have been cancelled globally – with this figure subject to change as the day progresses.
Cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike Comments
Cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike has confirmed that a “defect” in one of its content updates caused the technical issues, affecting Windows operating systems.
“This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed,” Crowdstrike said in a statement.
According to the BBC, Crowdstrike’s shares are down by more than 20% in unofficial trading in the US – equal to a $16bn loss in value.
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