Airline Passengers Warned of New Weekend Flight Delays Following Global Windows IT Outage
Hundreds of flights were cancelled at UK airports yesterday due to a global Microsoft IT outage, and disruption is expected to continue throughout the weekend, with aircraft and crews ‘stranded’.
Travellers are advised to check with service providers for ‘additional options’ as at least 48 flights in the UK were cancelled on Saturday. People stranded at Heathrow Airport slept overnight on plastic seats at the airport, while others leaned on their suitcases for comfort.
CrowdStrike, the company responsible for the Microsoft IT outage, says it is still working online to remedy the situation and warns that criminals are looking to take advantage of the global disruption.
George Kurtz, co-founder and CEO of Texas-based CrowdStrike, has admitted responsibility for the outage, which halted GP appointments and wreaked online havoc on banking and healthcare applications. The collapse was caused by a glitch in the cybersecurity software created by the company that caused millions of computers running Microsoft Windows to suddenly crash on Friday morning.
So on Friday, passengers had their travel plans disrupted as thousands of international flights were cancelled following a failed software update to the Microsoft Windows operating system. The incident caused chaos in a number of services, with hospital appointments cancelled, payroll systems blocked, and TV channels shut down.
The day before, nearly 7,000 flights were cancelled worldwide, including 408 flights to and from the UK.
According to aviation analytics company Cirium, as of 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, 23 departures and 25 arrivals were cancelled in the UK.