Massive Microsoft Outages Hit Global Airports, News Outlets, Banks And More

A major glitch in Microsoft Cloud is affecting airlines, train companies, media publications, police forces, banks, various businesses, and millions of people across the globe this Friday.

According to NBC News, major airlines in the United States—including Delta Airlines, United Airlines, and American Airlines— have been affected by the IT problem, forcing them to temporarily stop services and delay flights. The issue was spotted on Windows PCs as users reported getting a blue screen when trying to turn on the computers and run the system.

“A third-party outage is impacting computer systems, including at United and many other organizations worldwide,” shared United Airlines on X, “As we work to fully restore these systems, some flights are resuming. Many customers traveling today may experience delays.”

A third-party outage is impacting computer systems, including at United and many other organizations worldwide.

As we work to fully restore these systems, some flights are resuming. Many customers traveling today may experience delays.

We have issued a waiver to make it easier…

— United Airlines (@united) July 19, 2024

The same issue has been reported across Europe, Australia and Asia. Berlin’s Brandenburg Airport alerted passengers of delays, and the Spanish company Aena—in charge of 46 airports in Spain—announced “an incident in the computer system” as well.

According to Forbes, the problem has been linked to the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. The firm has mentioned that they are aware of the problem and Microsoft has also announced that they have already fixed the issue

“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,” said George Kurtz, CrowdStrike’s CEO earlier on X.

Transportation services have been working on alternatives for customers from issuing waivers to writing boarding passes by hand. Akshay Kothari, Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Notion, was traveling a few hours ago in India and shared a post on X of his experience: The Microsoft / CrowdStrike outage has taken down most airports in India. I got my first hand-written boarding pass today.”

The Microsoft / CrowdStrike outage has taken down most airports in India. I got my first hand-written boarding pass today 😅 pic.twitter.com/xsdnq1Pgjr

— Akshay Kothari (@akothari) July 19, 2024

Multiple news outlets have not been able to air live news. David Rhodes, Sky News executive chairman, said on X the media company has been affected too: “Sky News have not been able to broadcast live TV this morning, currently telling viewers that we apologise for the interruption. Much of our news report is still available online, and we are working hard to restore all services.”

Among the banks affected, Australian and New Zealand banks—NAB, Commonwealth, Bendigo, ASB, and Kiwibank—have also reported issues according to TIME.

It is uncertain at the moment when businesses and organizations affected will entirely restore their services and go back to normal, nor the full impact and consequences of this major global glitch. More details, information, and official announcements should come in soon.