See how the CrowdStrike security update outage impacted travel at airports around the world
Katie Mather
AirAsia passengers wait to be checked in manually at Kuala Lumpur International Airport after a global IT system outage, in Sepang, Malaysia, on Friday. (Hasnoor Hussain/Reuters) (REUTERS)
Early Friday morning, CrowdStrike, a popular cybersecurity company, rolled out a security update that was automatically installed across Microsoft servers. It ultimately caused a massive outage all over the world, affecting businesses from airlines and hospitals to banks and schools.
For airports especially, the CrowdStrike outage is likely the biggest IT issue in history, resulting in more than 26,000 flights being delayed and more than 2,000 flights being canceled just in the United States. Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines and United Airlines are some of the airlines that had to temporarily ground their flights.
Georgia's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International, the world's busiest airport, reportedly had the most flights affected by the outage. More than 230 incoming and outgoing flights were canceled at that airport alone.
As of Friday afternoon, it seems U.S. airlines have slowly started to resume normal operations hours after the technology outage began.
In Germany, all flights at Berlin Brandenburg Airport were temporarily suspended, although some departures started to resume around 5 a.m. ET. Dutch airline KLM also announced it was affected and that operations would be suspended until further notice. Switzerland's largest airport, in Zurich, announced that planes were not allowed to land this morning.
Below are photos from airports around the world showing travelers dealing with the aftermath of the CrowdStrike outage.
Travelers at Los Angeles International Airport sleep in a jetway for a delayed United Airlines flight to Dulles International Airport. (Stefanie Dazio/AP) (AP)
A person with luggage waits at Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Germany. (Nadja Wohlleben/Reuters) (REUTERS)
A timetable shows a canceled flight at the Berlin airport. (Tobias Schlie/Reuters) (REUTERS)
Travelers stand in line at Brussels Airport. (Harry Nakos/AP) (AP)
Passengers check flight information at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters) (REUTERS)
Passengers line up for manual check-in at Hong Kong International Airport. (Kanis Leung/AP) (AP)
Travelers wait in line at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Baltimore. (Stephanie Scarbrough/AP) (AP)
A traveler at Los Angeles International Airport sits in a jetway for a delayed United Airlines flight. (Stefanie Dazi/AP) (AP)
AirAsia passengers wait to be checked in manually at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. (Hasnoor Hussain/Reuters) (REUTERS)
Passengers wait at London Stansted Airport in Essex, England. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP) (AP)
A screen shows a Microsoft Windows recuperation message at Madrid Barajas International Airport in Spain. (Paul White/AP) (AP)
Passengers walk to an entry gate at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, India. (Rajanish Kakade/AP) (AP)
Passengers line up for manual check-in near a sign announcing system failure for the check-in process at Hong Kong International Airport. (Kanis Leung/AP) (AP)
Passengers wait to check in at Don Mueang International Airport in Bangkok. (Sakchai Lalit/AP) (AP)
A woman walks past the departure board at Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport. (Thomas Padilla/AP) (AP)
A Paris Olympics volunteer watches planes on the tarmac at Charles de Gaulle Airport. (Thomas Padilla/AP) (AP)
Travelers walk by the departure board at Charles de Gaulle Airport. (Thomas Padilla/AP) (AP)
A small boy lies on the floor as travelers stand in line at Brussels Airport. (Harry Nakos/AP) (AP)
An airport luggage attendant walks on the tarmac at Linate Airport in Milan. (Luca Bruno/AP) (AP)
Two travelers sit on a bench overlooking the runway at Brussels Airport. (Harry Nakos/AP) (AP)
Travelers wait for information in front of a departure board at Brussels Airport. (Harry Nak/AP) (AP)
A child looks at parked airplanes from a window as he waits at Linate Airport in Milan. (Luca Bruno/AP) (AP)