- A global IT outage caused delays and cancellations for airline passengers around the world.
- Several U.S. airlines, including American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, grounded all flights early Friday due to communications issues.
- The aviation industry has been particularly hard hit because of its timing sensitivity.
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William Sikora III was scheduled to fly from Philadelphia to Detroit on Friday morning.
“I’m stuck at this airport,” he wrote in a 6 a.m. video posted to X, zooming in on a blue airport screen showing system errors. “United, Delta, American, everything’s down. People are just sitting here. The app still says the flight is on time because they can’t update the information on the app.”
Air travelers around the world faced delays, cancellations and check-in problems as airports and airlines were hit by a major IT outage that affected a range of industries from banking to media companies.
Several U.S. airlines, including American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines, grounded all flights early Friday due to communications issues, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
More than 2,200 flights were canceled and more than 6,100 were delayed as of 1 p.m. ET, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. Most airlines were able to resume service by mid-morning, but many expect disruptions to continue throughout the day.
More information about the outage:Global tech outage cancels flights, hits banking, media businesses
Megan Brown said Washington Dulles Airport was surprisingly quiet despite the chaos in the airline industry: The airport was less crowded than usual, security went through faster than expected, and passengers seemed understanding, she said.
“We just took a gamble and came out here and hopefully we’ll be leaving today,” Brown told USA Today by phone from Dulles. “There’s nothing we can do about it.”
Her family’s 8:25 a.m. ET flight to San Francisco was delayed but was able to take off within hours. “The moment the gate agent said we were starting boarding, there was a cheer,” she said.
Airports and airlines around the world advised passengers to arrive earlier than usual for their flights.
Around 9 a.m., Sikora posted another video showing fellow passengers sitting and standing on the floor in the middle of a crowded terminal at Philadelphia International Airport.
“Everybody’s in the same situation, just walking around and sitting around,” he told USA Today.
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Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike blamed the global technology outage on a flawed Microsoft Windows Host update.
“Today was not a security or cyber incident, and our customers are fully protected,” Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz posted on X. “We understand the gravity of the situation and deeply apologize for any inconvenience and trouble caused. We are working with all affected customers to ensure that systems are restored and we can provide the service you expect. As previously mentioned, the issue has been identified and a fix has been deployed. There was an issue with a Falcon content update for Windows hosts.”
The aviation industry has been hit especially hard because of its time-sensitivity. Airlines rely on tightly coordinated schedules that are often run by air traffic control authorities. A single delay of just a few minutes can upset airport and airline flight schedules for the rest of the day.
“This issue affected many separate systems, including aircraft weight calculations, customer check-in and call center phone systems,” United said in a statement. “After suspending all departing flights overnight, we resumed operations Friday morning and are committed to getting customers to their destinations.”
Airline Exemptions and DOT Requirements
The Department for Transport confirmed that airlines consider the delays and cancellations caused by Friday’s IT outage to be “controllable.” While airlines may say they weren’t responsible for the computer error, this means the Department for Transport holds them accountable for honouring promises they’ve made to customers in terms of policies such as rebookings and hotel and meal vouchers until the chaos is over. All airline policies are outlined on the Department for Transport’s customer service dashboard.
It’s set to be a tough day for travelers, but airlines are doing all they can to offer more flexibility to travelers affected by the outage.
- American The company has issued waivers to affected travelers across all of its U.S. locations.
- deltaDelta Air Lines resumed service just before 8 a.m. ET but said it expected the disruptions to continue throughout the day. The airline gave all passengers traveling on Friday permission to rebook their flights.
- UnitedUnited Airlines said in a statement that it resumed service at 6:20 a.m. ET, but expected delays and cancellations throughout the day. The airline has issued travel waivers for some airports to allow passengers to change their flights if their flights are affected, but a United Airlines spokesperson told USA Today that nearly all of the airline’s flights depart from or arrive at one of the waived airports.
- spiritThe airline issued a waiver allowing customers who were scheduled to fly through any airport in its network on Friday or Saturday to change their flights at no extra cost.
What happens if my flight is cancelled?
Department of Transport regulations require all airlines to refund customers if a flight is canceled for any reason, but customers may be entitled to additional compensation if the cancellation is within the airline’s control.
It is unclear whether the IT outage, which affects all airlines, is within the airlines’ control.
What should I do if my flight is delayed?
If your flight is delayed for a long time, the Department of Transport recommends asking airline staff if they will pay for your meals and hotel bills.
While the DOT dashboard reflects an airline’s official policy, many airlines handle compensation for delays on a case-by-case basis and may offer vouchers or other benefits in situations that aren’t officially covered.
Contributors: Andrew Mills, Joanna Pruszynska, Lisa Barrington; Reuters
