A mass IT outage has hit flights, banks, retailers, and media outlets around the world.
The issues appear to be linked to the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike.
Microsoft also acknowledged the issue in an X update early Friday: writing, “Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions.”
Here are some of the companies and operations affected.
Airlines
Airlines, including United, Delta, American, and Allegiant, have all grounded flights due to the mass outage.
American Airlines has blamed the issues on Crowdstrike. The airline said the tech problems are because of a “technical issue with Crowdstrike that is impacting multiple carriers,” per BBC News.
On Thursday night, Frontier Airlines issued a similar ground stop order, saying in a statement: “Flight operations are currently being impacted by a major Microsoft technical outage.”
European airlines Ryanair and KLM have been affected by the outage.
In a post on X, Ryanair said: “We’re currently experiencing disruption across the network due to a Global 3rd party IT outage which is out of our control.” The airline advised passengers to arrive at the airport at least 3 hours before their scheduled departure time.
KLM also said it had largely suspended operations.
“KLM and other airlines and airports have been affected by a global computer outage, making flight handling impossible. We realize that this is very inconvenient for our customers and staff, particularly in the midst of the summer holiday season. We’re working hard to resolve the problem. Until then, we will have to largely suspend operations,” the Airline said in an X post.
911 lines
According to a Facebook post from Alaska State Troopers, emergency lines in the state are also affected.
The post said: “Due to a nationwide technology-related outage, many 911 and non-emergency call centers are not working correctly across the State of Alaska.”
“We appreciate your patience and will update you when we know more,” the statement said.
Airports
Major UK airports, Heathrow, Gatwick, and Luton, have reported issues, with some warning of delays and disruption.
Gatwick Express’s X account posted to say the company was unable to access driver diagrams at certain locations, “leading to potential short-notice cancelations, particularly on the Thameslink and Great Northern networks.”
Hospitals and doctors’ surgeries
Several hospitals and doctors’ practices appear to have been affected by the outage.
In the UK, the NHS’s EMIS system, used by doctors to book appointments, view patient notes, order prescriptions, and make referrals, appears to be having issues.
A spokesperson for the NHS told BI in a statement: “The NHS is aware of a global IT outage and an issue with EMIS, an appointment and patient record system, which is causing disruption in the majority of GP practices.
They said longstanding measures were in place to manage disruption and that there was no known impact on 999 or emergency services, so people should use these services as normal.
“Patients should attend appointments unless told otherwise and only contact their GP if it’s urgent, and otherwise please use 111 online or call 111,” they added.
Two German hospitals have canceled elective operations scheduled for Friday, Reuters reported.
Media channels like UK’s Sky News
Sky News also appears to have been hit by the outage. The UK news channel has been showing archive footage and briefly displaying an error message.
The news site appears to be up and running at the time of writing.
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange’s website was also experiencing issues.
“RNS news service is currently experiencing a third-party global technical issue, preventing news from being published on www.londonstockexchange.com,” the company said in a statement.
“Technical teams are working to restore the service. Other services across the group, including London Stock Exchange, continue to operate as normal,” it continued.
Retailers and fast-food giants
According to a Bloomberg report, McDonald’s Japan suspended about a third of its stores in the country on Friday. The issue is with the stores’ cash registers, the report says.
Grocery store chain Woolworths told BI that some stores had “been impacted as a result of the global IT issue.” All but six stores were open for business, but some had fewer checkouts functioning.
Bloomberg reported that at the Ocean Park Marriott in Hong Kong, staff were using pen and paper to check guests in and had said that the outage was affecting its systems globally.
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