Passengers worldwide faced chaos as a significant IT outage affected airports and airlines, leading to flight delays, cancellations, and check-in problems. Over 2,691 flights were canceled out of more than 110,000 scheduled on Friday. The outage, likely tied to a Microsoft software glitch, disrupted airlines’ closely coordinated schedules and operations.
Airlines like Delta, American, and Ryanair experienced disruptions, and major airports like Schiphol, Gatwick, and Edinburgh were impacted. Passengers at various airports faced long lines, manual check-ins, and delays due to the outage. Airlines had to resort to manual processes, such as issuing handwritten boarding passes and using whiteboards to display gate information.
In the US, carriers like American Airlines issued ground stops due to communication problems, causing further delays. While some airlines resumed limited operations, others warned of ongoing cancellations and delays. The FAA reported ongoing disruptions at several airports, affecting thousands of flights and millions of passengers.
While transportation systems were gradually returning to normal, the full resolution of the IT outage was expected by Saturday. Amidst the turmoil, the legal implications for airlines in compensating passengers for delays beyond three hours were unclear. European airlines were obligated to provide compensation, but US regulations were less defined. The extent to which the IT issue would be considered an airline-caused delay remained uncertain.
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