Global tech outage impacts flights, banks, healthcare, 911 call centers and businesses

A widespread Microsoft outage linked to cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike disrupted flights, banks, media outlets and companies around the world on Friday and highlighted the fragility of a digitized world dependent on a handful of providers.

The website DownDectector, which tracks user-reported internet outages, recorded outages in services at Visa, ADT security and Amazon, and major U.S. airlines. Officials in some U.S. states, including Alaska, Virginia and Iowa, warned of problems to 911 emergency call centers in their areas.

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said the outage “is not a security incident or cyberattack” and the company has issued a solution. During an interview on NBC’s “TODAY” show Friday Kurtz apologized for the outage and said it could take some time for systems to recover.

“It was only the Microsoft operating system” that was affected, though it didn’t happen on every Microsoft Windows system, he said.

The issue affected Microsoft 365 apps and services, and escalating disruptions continued hours after the technology company said it was gradually fixing it.

Microsoft 365 posted on X that the company was “working on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact in a more expedient fashion” and that they were “observing a positive trend in service availability.”

In a statement to NBC News, a Microsoft spokesperson said, “We are aware of the issue affecting a subset of customers. We acknowledge how impactful this is to our customers, and we are working to restore services for those still experiencing disruptions as quickly as possible.”

Which airlines are impacted by the IT outage?

Meanwhile, major disruptions reported by airlines and airports grew. Flight tracking website Flightaware reports more than 1,700 flights into, out of or within the U.S. have been canceled and 4,470 more are delayed as of 11 am E.T. Globally, more 27,000 flights have been delated and nearly 3,000 have been canceled. Chicago O’Hare, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta, Newark , La Guardia and Boston Logan International Airport lead Flightaware’s “misery map” with the most delays and cancellations.

In the U.S., airlines United, American and Delta said that at least some flights were resuming after severe disruptions, though delays would persist

An earlier ground stop for Frontier Airlines was lifted just after midnight, and the carrier said they had resumed normal operations, for now.

Earlier Friday, travelers arriving at Midway Airport in Chicago for Delta flights Friday morning were just learning of the outage because the airline’s communication systems are down. Delta told NBC Chicago that they have no way of rerouting passengers to their destinations, leaving customers to either return home or find flights on other carriers. Currently, Southwest Airlines and Frontier appeared to be operating normally.

Hoards of travelers crowded Philadelphia International Airport, where NBC Philadelphia reports “no flights are coming in or out of Philly.”

Across the pond, Edinburgh Airport said the system outage meant waiting times were longer than usual. London’s Stansted Airport said some airline check-in services were being completed manually, but flights were still operating.

In Europe, Berlin Airport said Friday morning there would be delays in check-in “due to a technical fault” and Zurich Airport, the busiest in Switzerland, suspended landings on Friday morning but said flights headed there that were already in the air were still allowed to land. It said that several airlines, handling agents and other companies at the airport were affected, and that check-in had to be done manually in some cases, but that the airport’s own systems were running. Airports in Italy, Spain and Amsterdam also reported delays.

Paris Olympics organizers say some Olympic delegations’ arrivals, as well as the delivery of some uniforms and accreditations, have been delayed because of the outage.

Azul Airlines, a Brazilian low-cost airline, said its check-in systems were affected, causing occasional flight delays. The company recommended that customers arrive at the airport earlier. The National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil said it is monitoring the impacts on airports, but so far there haven’t been major delays.

Widespread problems were reported at Australian airports, where lines grew and some passengers were stranded as online check-in services and self-service booths were disabled. Passengers in Melbourne queued for more than an hour to check in, although flights were still operating. Airlines Virgin Australia and Qantas were severely affected by the outage.

Airline operations in India were disrupted, affecting thousands. Hong Kong’s Airport Authority said in a statement that the outage was affecting some airlines at the city’s airport and they had switched to manual check-in.

Several airlines made statements on X saying that they were also following manual check-in and boarding processes and warned of delays due to technical problems.

Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images

How are trains and metros being impacted by the global IT outage?

In Washington, D.C., the outage knocked Metro’s website offline. The agency said trains are running on time, however, commuters are not able to use train tracker, bus tracker and “Plan My Trip” services because the website is down, NBC Washington reports.

Amtrak said trains are also running on time, however, the platform arrival and departure display boards are down. In New York, Long Island Rail Road said its train service is unaffected, but their platform signs are temporarily offline.

In the U.K., train operators TransPennine Express and Govia Thameslink Railway are among those affected.

What else is impacted by the global IT outage?

Alaska State Troopers warned that many 911 and nonemergency call centers across the state weren’t working correctly and shared alternate numbers. In Virginia, the City of Fairfax Police Department said that it was experiencing technical difficulties with its phone systems, including 911, NBC Washington reported. The department shared a nonemergency number for callers and said 911 could still be used, but calls wouldn’t go directly to the dispatch center. In Iowa, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office warned on social media that phone lines were down and 911 calls might be routed to neighboring counties, but emergency calls would be promptly redirected to the sheriff’s office.

In New England, the outage led some hospitals to cancel appointments, NBC Boston reports.

A spokesman at Mass General Brigham, the largest health care system in Massachusetts, said the outage had resulted in all scheduled nonurgent surgeries, procedures and medical visits being canceled for Friday. Emergency departments remain open and care for patients in the hospital hasn’t been impacted.

News outlets in Australia — including the ABC and Sky News — were unable to broadcast on their TV and radio channels, and reported sudden shutdowns of Windows-based computers. Some news anchors broadcast live online from dark offices, in front of computers showing “blue screens of death.” Telecommunications providers, banks and media broadcasters were also disrupted as they lost access to computer systems. Outages reported on the site DownDetector included the banks NAB, Commonwealth and Bendigo, as well as internet and phone providers such as Telstra. The New Zealand banks ASB and Kiwibank said their services were down.

Television stations in the United Kingdom were being disrupted by the computer issues.

Bradesco, one of the main banks in Brazil, notified its users via its app that digital services were unstable due to a global cyber outage, but its ATMs were working normally. Bradesco has over 100 million clients.

Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, western Japan, said the global system outage that started Friday will continue to affect ticket sales at the park over the weekend. The park said its ticket booths sales will not be available Saturday and Sunday and asked visitors to purchase their tickets on the USJ official website or via designated ticket sales site Lawson Ticket. Park attractions aren’t affected.

Hospitals in Britain and Germany also reported problems.

Several practices within the National Health Service in England reported that the outage had hit their clinical computer system that contains medical records and is used for scheduling.

“We have no access to patient clinical records so are unable to book appointments or provide information,” Church Lane Surgery in Brighouse in Northern England said on the social media platform X. “This is a national problem and is being worked on as a high priority.”

The NHS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In northern Germany, the Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital, which has branches in Kiel and Luebeck, said it had canceled all elective surgery scheduled for Friday, but patient and emergency care were unaffected.

Israel’s Cyber Directorate said that it was among the places affected by the global outages, attributing them to a problem with the cybersecurity platform Crowdstrike. The outage also hit the country’s post offices and hospitals, according to the ministries of communication and health.

In South Africa, at least one major bank said it was experiencing “nationwide service disruptions” as customers reported they were unable to make payments using their bank cards at grocery stores and gas stations.