Impact of Microsoft Outage on Global Flights: Key Takeaways

The global travel industry was thrown into chaos on Friday morning as thousands of flights were canceled or delayed due to a Microsoft outage related to a CrowdStrike software update. Major airlines such as United, Delta, and American Airlines were forced to ground flights as communication issues arose.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), flights from these airlines were grounded for parts of Friday morning as the outage impacted multiple airlines. Delta announced that it had paused its global flight schedule until the issue is resolved, while United stated that some flights were resuming but customers should expect delays. American Airlines reported that it had safely re-established its operation and flights were resuming.

Overall, over 18,000 flights were either canceled or delayed globally, with about 2,000 affected in the U.S. alone, according to FlightAware. The impact of the outage was not limited to airlines, as airports, train transit, fast food, and media industries also experienced issues.

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz reassured customers that the issue had been identified and a fix had been deployed. However, the incident had a significant impact on the stock market, with shares of Microsoft dropping 1.3% and CrowdStrike tumbling over 10%. Despite the chaos, shares of Delta, United, and American Airlines remained relatively stable in pre-market trading.

The widespread disruption caused by the Microsoft outage serves as a reminder of the interconnected nature of modern industries and the importance of robust IT systems to prevent such incidents in the future.