Airlines, industry face disruptions due to global tech outage

Multiple industries around the world were facing disruptions on Friday after being hit by a global tech outage.

In a statement, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said that: “CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted.”

Kurtz continued: “This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed. We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website.”

And Kurtz added: “We further recommend organizations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers.”

( https://www.crowdstrike.com/blog/statement-on-windows-sensor-update/ )

Airlines, airports, rail services as well as other industries around the world were experiencing disruptions to a greater or lesser degree as a result of the outage.

Porter Airlines announced that it was cancelling its flights today (July 19) until 12 pm ET, “due to prolonged third-party technology systems outages affecting multiple global industries. This applies to all areas of our website, mobile app, reservations, flight changes and inquiry systems. Further delays and cancellations are possible.”

The carrier also advised in an alert that: “Passengers cannot be rebooked while systems are offline. The rebooking process will take a period of time, with new flights confirmed over a number of days due to high passenger volume. Communication via email and text will be delayed. The most immediate source of information regarding passenger reservations will be via My Bookings at flyporter.com, once systems are online.”

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) Pearson Airport advised that: “We are continuing to work with our airline partners as the global IT outage impacts some airlines. Travellers may notice the terminals are busier than normal this morning as we anticipate connecting 135,000 passengers today. Please direct inquiries about flight status to your specific airline.

Pearson indicated that Air Canada, Sunwing, Flair and WestJet flights were operating normally.

However, in the U.S., a number of major airlines were dealing with disruptions.

Posting on X (formerly Twitter), United Airlines advised that: “A third-party outage is impacting computer systems, including at United and many other organizations worldwide. As we work to fully restore these systems, some flights are resuming. Many customers traveling today may experience delays. We have issued a waiver to make it easier to change your travel plans at http://United.com or the United app. Waiver: http://uafly.co/alerts ”