Global IT Outage Grounds 1,000s of Flights: Latest Updates

While commercial air service was slowly recovering on Friday after a technology outage caused thousands of flights worldwide to be canceled or delayed, the ripple effect from the disruption left airports crowded with passengers and airlines working to get planes and crews back in position.

Friday 19 July was set to be one of the busiest days of the summer for Europe’s airports. But the world’s biggest IT outage had other plans for hundreds of thousands of holidaymakers.

Crowdstrike, a cybersecurity firm with thousands of customers globally, admitted on Friday that a defective software update had caused the major IT outage that brought airports, banks, hospitals, media outlets, and businesses to a halt worldwide.

In the wake of a worldwide technology outage, my Sunday afternoon flight with Delta Air Lines from Boston Logan (BOS) to San Francisco (SFO) was canceled, and the next option to fly on Delta was nearly 48 hours later. I rebooked myself on United Airlines, which got me to my destination just over 12 hours later than originally scheduled—at a cost that exceeded $2,000. Thankfully, I was traveling for work and the new flight was covered as a business expense. If I was paying out of my own pocket, however, I would have submitted the new flight for reimbursement via the travel insurance coverage offered through my credit card.

The global software outage last week caused thousands of travelers flying in the United States and internationally to have their flights delayed, canceled or both. In the days that followed, some airlines were trying to reboot critical computer systems affected by the outage, with many of their passengers still stranded at airports.

If you were flying — or planned to fly — last week, your travel plans might have been snarled by an I.T. outage that kneecapped myriad industries and critical services worldwide. On Friday, July 19, alone, nearly 14 percent of the scheduled flights in the United States were canceled and 56 percent were delayed, according to Cirium, an aviation data company. In the days following, Delta Air Lines and other carriers continued to cancel and delay flights as they struggled with crews and planes out of position and the rebooking of thousands of passengers.

Scott Darling and his wife drove their 17-year-old son, Asher, to the San Jose airport on Sunday morning and saw him off at the check-in counter. They were back in their car and pulling out of the airport when they got a frantic call: Delta Air Lines wouldn’t let Asher check in because he didn’t have a parent accompanying him on the flight.

It's been a tumultuous few days at U.S. airports. Airlines have canceled thousands of flights since an IT outage affecting Microsoft clients Friday upended operations at industries around the world — including air travel.

A major outage on IT systems worldwide has led to widespread problems for travellers during the busy summer season.

Delta Air Lines canceled around 20% of its schedule on Monday as it grapples with lingering flight disruptions that were caused by a major IT outage. 

Delta Air Lines canceled more than 500 flights on Monday, hours after Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg singled out the airline as it struggles to recover three days after a global software outage grounded flights around the world.

A day after a tech outage disrupted industries worldwide, airlines are digging themselves out from the fallout of thousands of delayed and canceled flights that have left travelers stranded and searching to find a way home over the weekend.