Source – houstonpublicmedia.org
Major Industries Affected
A significant Microsoft outage on Friday caused widespread disruptions across various industries, including aviation, banking, media, and more. The outage affected access to Microsoft 365 apps and services, leading to escalating issues even as the technology company began to address the problem.
Impacted Services
User-reported internet outage tracker DownDetector showed increasing service disruptions at companies such as Visa, ADT security, Amazon, and airlines like American Airlines and Delta. In Australia, airlines, telecommunications providers, banks, and media broadcasters experienced significant operational issues, while several New Zealand banks also reported being offline.
Microsoft 365 acknowledged the issue on X (formerly Twitter), stating they were working to reroute affected traffic to alternate systems. The company noted a “positive trend in service availability” but did not provide further details on the cause of the Microsoft outage.
Aviation Industry Hit Hard
The Microsoft outage severely impacted airlines and airports worldwide. In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that United, American, Delta, and Allegiant airlines were all grounded. The United Kingdom saw disruptions at Ryanair, TransPennine Express, Govia Thameslink Railway, and broadcaster Sky News. Ryanair advised passengers to arrive at airports three hours before departure due to the ongoing issues.
Australian airports faced significant delays, with long lines and stranded passengers as online check-in services and self-service kiosks were disabled. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport reported a “major impact on flights” on one of its busiest days of the year. Berlin Airport in Germany experienced delays, suspending flights until 10 a.m. local time. In Rome, some U.S.-bound flights from Leonardo da Vinci airport were delayed, while others remained unaffected.
Widespread IT Outage Impacts Airlines, Banks
Additional Impacts
In Australia, banks such as NAB, Commonwealth, and Bendigo, along with airlines Virgin Australia and Qantas, and internet providers like Telstra, reported outages. Media outlets, including ABC and Sky News, experienced shutdowns of Windows-based computers, leading to interrupted broadcasts. News anchors resorted to broadcasting live online from dark offices, often in front of “blue screens of death.”
Shoppers faced issues as some supermarkets and stores experienced payment system outages. In New Zealand, banks ASB and Kiwibank reported service disruptions.
An alert from Crowdstrike, posted by an X user, indicated crashes on Windows hosts related to its Falcon Sensor platform. This alert could not be independently verified as Crowdstrike did not respond to requests for comment.
Response and Outlook
As Microsoft worked to resolve the issue, the full extent and root cause of the outage remained unclear. The global scale of the disruption underscored the reliance on Microsoft’s services and the widespread impact when such systems fail. The incident highlighted the need for robust contingency plans across industries to mitigate similar disruptions in the future.
