Microsoft outage today US China: US flight operations ‘hit’ but China airlines not

Flights were grounded and airlines’ operations were halted in the US, the UK, and other parts of the world due to a global IT outage linked to Microsoft and Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike’s technology. However, Beijing airport and Chinese airlines have claimed that their operations remained unaffected by the IT outages.Major Chinese airlines such as Hainan Airlines, Air China, China Southern Airlines, and Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) have revealed that they didn’t face any obstacles due to the global IT glitch as they use different systems, as per a report on Chinese state media outlet CGTN.

Airlines Operations in US Hit

Top US carriers including Delta Air and United Airlines are restoring some operations on Friday after a technical issue related to an IT vendor forced multiple carriers to ground flights, as per a Reuters report.

However, delays and cancellations were expected to persist throughout the day, as airlines try to fully recover from the impact of the outage that upended their flying schedules and affected thousands of passengers.

More than 1,400 flights were cancelled across the US, with nearly 4,000 delayed, as of 10:00 am (ET) on Friday, according to data tracker FlightAware.

It was not clear if the groundings reported by the major US airlines were related to outages at Microsoft and cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike that hit banking, healthcare and a number of other sectors globally on Friday, Reuters reported.

Delta and United said they were resuming some flights but expected additional delays and cancellations. The airlines also issued travel waivers for impacted passengers.

Peer American Airlines, which had earlier issued a ground stop notice, said it had safely re-established operations.

While American, Delta and United did not name the vendor, smaller carrier Frontier Airlines said that a “major Microsoft technical outage” hit its operations temporarily.

Microsoft is Fixing 365 Apps and Services

Microsoft said on Friday that the underlying cause for outage of its 365 apps and services has been fixed, but the residual impact of cybersecurity outages are continuing to affect some customers.

CrowdStrike Windows Update

As the Microsoft Windows crash created mayhem globally, cyber-security platform CrowdStrike on Friday said it is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts.

The global outage of the US tech giant Microsoft has affected millions of users across the world, including in the UK, America, India, where airlines and airport services are majorly hit.

Millions of Microsoft Windows users are experiencing the “Blue Screen of Death” error that causes their computers to shut down or restart.

FAQs

Q1. What happened during global IT outage?
A1. Millions of Microsoft Windows users are experiencing the “Blue Screen of Death” error that causes their computers to shut down or restart.

Q2. What is the name of cyber-security platform linked to global IT outage?
A2. Cyber-security platform is CrowdStrike.

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