Microsoft outage grounds thousands of flights around the world

When you think of Microsoft you may think of your home computer or gaming console, but the impact of that company has been felt worldwide during a massive outage on Friday. A major internet outage grounded flights, media outlets, banks, and much more around the world. Thousands of flights around the world were delayed or canceled, with service slowly being restored.

Airlines and airports in several countries were hit including the United States, Europe, India, Australia, and more. Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, and American Airlines grounded all flights throughout their service lines. An American Airlines spokesperson released a Friday morning email that addressed the issue, saying that the company was in contact with planes that were in the air, and the airline was “aware of a technical issue with CrowdStrike that is impacting multiple carriers.”

CrowdStrike is a well-known cyber security organization and a software update malfunction seems to be the cause of the issue. The company also confirmed that this was not due to a cyber-attack.

“CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts,” the company said in a press statement.

Airlines are slowly getting flights back in the air while millions of passengers are still grounded. According to CNN, there were more than 1,384 flight cancellations either departing or arriving in the United States before 10 a.m. FlightAware, which tracks disruptions in the airline industry reports 25,536 delays and 2,534 total cancellations. Delta was hit with the most with 627 delayed flights and 475 cancelled flights.