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Between booking, sorting out transportation, and waking up on time, flying is already a pretty stressful task. A global tech systems shutdown on Friday that disrupted check-ins, delayed airlines, and left passengers stuck trapped in lines doesn’t help.
More than 23,900 flights around the world had been delayed Friday morning, according to FlightAware, which tracks global flights. That includes more than 3,260 domestic U.S. flights and flights entering or departing U.S. airspace. Another 2,320 have been canceled, including 1,346 involving the U.S.
Many, although not all, of these delays and cancelations have been caused by a botched update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which caused an issue with Microsoft’s operating system. More than half of Fortune 500 companies use CrowdStrike’s software, according to a promotional video from the firm earlier this year. Retailers, health care services, public transportation services, public broadcasters, and banks have all been impacted by the issues.
Airlines and airports across Europe and Asia have also been affected, with Lufthansa-subsidiary Eurowings canceling all German domestic flights and services to and from the U.K. The ground operations of airlines at seven major airports in Thailand have also been disrupted, with disruptions being reported at airports in Hong King and Singapore.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that several airlines have requested assistance with ground stops. Delta Air Lines and and United Airlines have resumed some flights. American Airlines said it has fully restored operations. Between those three airlines alone, more than 950 flights have been canceled and 1,275 have been delayed.
Some of the airports most impacted by the issues have been Georgia’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the Netherlands’s Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, New York’s LaGuardia Airport, and Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina, according to FlightAware.
“I don’t think it’s too early to call it: this will be the largest IT outage in history,” Troy Hunt, a security consultant and creator of “Have I Been Pwned?,” wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
This is a developing story and will be updated.