Global technology outage grounds flights
Technology outages worldwide are disrupting airlines and businesses Friday morning. United, Delta and American have asked the FAA for a global ground stop on all flights. FOX 26’s Shelby Rose is at Houston’s Bush Airport.
HOUSTON – A global technology outage is affecting flights and businesses on Friday morning, including in Houston.
Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said that the issue believed to be behind the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack — and that a fix was on the way. The company said the problem occurred when it deployed a faulty update to computers running Microsoft Windows.
SUGGESTED: Major global outage hits airlines, banks, businesses – what to know
Microsoft 365 posted on social media platform X that the company was “working on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact” and that they were “observing a positive trend in service availability.”
Global IT outage impacts Houston flights
The global outage prompted some airlines – including United, American and Delta – to ground flights on Friday morning.
The FAA said, “The FAA is closely monitoring a technical issue impacting IT systems at U.S. airlines. Several airlines have requested FAA assistance with ground stops until the issue is resolved.”
At Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport, crowds formed as travelers waited to be checked in.
“A global IT outage is affecting several airlines, resulting in delays and longer wait times this morning. Please check directly with your airline for the most current updates on your flight status,” Bush Airport wrote on X.
Around 6 a.m., some airlines reported that their computer systems were starting to come back online, and they were able to check-in passengers.
Click here to see flight status at Bush Airport.
Click here to see flight status at Hobby Airport.
Harris Health impacted by outage
Harris Health reported impacts to some of their systems due to their outage. Dialysis services remain open at Harris Health Quentin Mease Health Center, but other outpatient clinic appointments and elective hospital procedures were canceled.
In a statement, Harris Health said, “Many Harris Health information systems are currently disabled due to a worldwide Microsoft Windows failure caused by CrowdStrike cybers software. Dialysis services remain open at Harris Health Quentin Mease Health Center. All other Harris Health outpatient clinic appointments and elective hospital procedures are being canceled today and will be rescheduled when the information systems issues are resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working with our IT teams and consultants to remedy this outage.”
Global impacts of outage: Banks, media outlets and companies
Long lines formed at airports in the U.S., Europe and Asia as airlines lost access to check-in and booking services at a time when many travelers are heading away on summer vacations. News outlets in Australia — where telecommunications were severely affected — were pushed off air for hours. Hospitals and doctor’s offices had problems with their appointment systems, while banks in South Africa and New Zealand reported outages to their payment system or websites and apps.
Long lines formed at airports in the U.S., Europe and Asia as airlines lost access to check-in and booking services at a time when many travelers are heading away on summer vacations. News outlets in Australia — where telecommunications were severely affected — were pushed off air for hours. Hospitals and doctor’s offices had problems with their appointment systems, while banks in South Africa and New Zealand reported outages to their payment system or websites and apps.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.