A global tech outage caused by a content update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike wreaked havoc across multiple industries early Friday morning, not the least of these the travel industry. According to FlightAware there have been over 3,000 flights delayed within, into or out of the United States Friday, with another 1,300-plus cancelations. Globally, nearly 24,000 flights have been delayed.
While not all of these, however, can be attributed to the tech outage caused by CrowdStrike, USA Reports that the 1.9 percent of total flights canceled on Friday is “significantly higher than usual.”
According to a statement by CrowdStrike, “the issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”
This update caused Microsoft Windows to crash, displaying what’s known as the “blue screen of death.” Major airlines including American, United and Delta grounded flights worldwide. American, as of 5 a.m. says it was able to “safely re-establish [its] operation,” while both United and Delta report they have resumed “some” flights. All three carriers have issued waivers for those affected by the outage.
It's important to note that these delays and cancelations do not trigger the U.S. Department of Transportation's recent ruling that says airlines must “promptly provide passengers with automatic cash refunds” when it cancels or significantly changes a flight. This ruling only applies when the airline is at fault for the delay, lost items or failure to provide purchased extra services. The IT outage does not fall within these parameters.
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