In what is shaping out to be the biggest IT breakdown of the year, airlines like Delta (DAL) , United Airlines (UAL) and American Airlines (AAL) all issued a ground stop on all their flights as the Microsoft Windows (MSFT) systems which they use for everything from check-in to communication display error messages colloquially called "the blue screen of death."
The breakdown is not a cyberattack but linked to a failed upgrade by CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity program that many airlines and banking companies use to protect their PC systems. While CrowdStrike said that it is "actively working" to identify and repair the situation, the outage is causing widespread chaos as flights remain grounded throughout Friday.
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Data from flight tracking website FlightAware shows that more than 700 flights across the U.S. were canceled as of 9 a.m. ET on July 19 while a further 1,000 were delayed without information on when they would be able to take off.
'Check with their airlines for the most up-to-date information'
"The F.A.A. is closely monitoring a technical issue impacting IT systems at U.S. airlines," the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. "Several airlines have requested F.A.A. assistance with ground stops for their fleets until the issue is resolved."
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Similar cancelations were taking place everywhere from the United Kingdom and Germany to Australia and Thailand. Photos of long lines of passengers waiting for more information have started to emerge. Airports like O'Hare and Tampa International have taken to social media to ask travelers who have a flight scheduled but not yet made it to the airport to monitor the airline for updates before coming.
"Many of Tampa International Airport’s airlines have been impacted by a global IT outage, causing several flights to be either delayed or canceled this morning," the airport posted on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. "Passengers should check with their airlines for the most up-to-date information on their flight schedules."
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Already stranded? Why it might be best to just 'hunker down'
But thousands of travelers who had early-morning flights and already made it to the airport found themselves stranded without much information on when they will be able to board their flights.
Many reported seeing snaking lines to the airline's customer service counter or waiting times of several hours when trying to reach a representative by phone. But as many of the same representatives are similarly waiting for information from airport authorities and the FAA, there may not be much point in stressing out in line when one could get a drink at an airport bar.
"I'm not good, actually," Frank Tingley, a 42-year-old data analyst stranded at Boston Logan International Airport, told the New York Times. "The general mood is that people are finding a quiet corner and just trying to hunker down."
As of early Friday morning, American Airlines became the first major airline to say it was able to "re-establish [their] operation" and start running certain flights. On its website, Delta said that it is "working to issue a travel waiver" that would allow those who can fly out later to automatically reschedule their flights for free and take some of the pressure off working through the bottleneck caused by the outage.
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