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Airlines, train services grounded as IT outage hits the world

Businesses including banks, airlines, train companies, telecommunications companies, TV and radio broadcasters, and supermarkets have been affected by a mass global IT outage.

According to Sky News major US airlines including American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines have been grounded, while airports in Germany, Amsterdam and Spain are also reporting issues.

It is believed the outage is related to an issue at global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and Microsoft – although it is unknown if it is the same issue affecting airports and train services across the globe.

According to an alert sent by CrowdStrike to its clients, the company’s falcon sensor software caused Microsoft Windows to crash and display a blue screen, which has begun to be referred to as the “blue screen of death”.

CrowdStrike chief executive, George Kurtz, said in a statement on X that “the defect [was] found in a single content update for Windows hosts”.

“This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed,” Mr Kurtz said.

The outage appears to be affecting Windows PCs globally, including Sky News in the UK which was not able to broadcast live TV first thing on Friday morning.

London’s biggest airport, Heathrow, said in a statement that its “flights are operational though we are experiencing delays”.

It said it was implementing contingency plans to minimise any impact on journeys and passengers are advised to check with their airline for the latest flight information.

Gatwick Airport said “passengers may experience some delays” due to the global outage – particularly when checking in and passing through security.

Luton Airport also said it was aware of the global IT issue and is currently using manual systems to support operations.

Ryanair, Europe’s largest airline by passenger numbers, warned customers of potential disruptions which it said would affect “all airlines operating across the network,” though it did not specify the nature of the disruptions.

While passengers at Edinburgh Airport were unable to use automated boarding pass scanners and monitors at security displayed a message saying “server offline”, according to a Reuters witness.

The airport had reverted to checking boarding passes manually, the witness said.

‘Beyond the control of GP surgeries’

The IT outage has also reached GP surgeries across the UK, which said they are unable to access patient records or book appointments.

NHS England said the IT outage is “causing disruption in the majority of GP practices” in England but there is currently no known impact on 999 or emergency services.

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