Microsoft Outage Causes Flight Delays and Cancellations Across the US
On Friday, a global outage of Microsoft-based computers caused significant disruptions for air passengers in the United States. Over 1,100 flights were cancelled and more than 1,700 flights were delayed, affecting many travelers.
Passengers expressed their frustration over the unexpected delays and cancellations. A United Airlines passenger said, “No one here knows anything, the gate agents said we all know as much as they do.” Another passenger, Mack, mentioned, “I did not know that the internet was out. It is a global outage.”
CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm, confirmed that the outage was not a cyberattack but a software issue. The company has deployed a fix. Several airlines, including American Airlines, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines, issued ground stops due to communication problems.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) informed air traffic controllers about the communication issues. United Airlines stated, “A third-party software outage is impacting computer systems worldwide, including at United.” American Airlines also acknowledged the issue and apologized to customers.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said the company is working closely with CrowdStrike to provide technical guidance and support. The outage affected various industries, including banks, media companies, and railway networks.
Doubts Revealed
Microsoft -: Microsoft is a big company that makes computer software, like Windows and Office, which many people and businesses use.
Outage -: An outage means that something stopped working. In this case, it means that Microsoft’s computer systems stopped working properly.
Flight Cancellations -: Flight cancellations mean that planes that were supposed to take off did not fly at all.
Flight Delays -: Flight delays mean that planes took off later than they were supposed to.
US -: US stands for the United States of America, a country in North America.
Passengers -: Passengers are people who travel in vehicles like airplanes, buses, or trains.
United, American, and Delta -: United, American, and Delta are names of big airlines in the US that fly people to different places.
CrowdStrike -: CrowdStrike is a company that helps protect computers from bad things like viruses and hackers.
Cyberattack -: A cyberattack is when someone tries to damage or steal information from computers using the internet.
Software Issue -: A software issue means there is a problem with the computer programs that make things work.
Industries -: Industries are different types of businesses, like airlines, banks, or factories, that make or do things for people.