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A massive global IT outage is causing problems in aviation, banking, retail and media.
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The widespread disruptions have been linked to a problem with cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
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The impact includes airlines in the US and Europe, supermarkets and some 911 services.
A massive IT outage has hit airlines, banks, retailers and media around the world.
The issues appear to be related to cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
Microsoft also acknowledged the problem in a X-update early on Friday, writing: “Our services continue to be continuously improved as we continue to take measures to mitigate the impact of the crisis.”
Below are some of the businesses and activities that are affected.
Airlines
Several airlines grounded flights early Friday morning, including the three major U.S. carriers: United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines. In statements, all cited technological issues.
Delta and American both canceled their landings at 7 a.m. ET.
A United spokesperson told Business Insider that it was holding all planes at their departure airports while it worked to restore systems. “Flights that were already in the air are continuing on to their destinations,” they added.
American blames CrowdStrike for the problems. According to BBC News, the problems are the result of a “technical issue with Crowdstrike that is affecting multiple providers.”
Budget airlines Frontier, Allegiant and Spirit also made landings, but these were later cancelled.
Frontier's was released Thursday night. “Flight operations are currently impacted by a major technical outage from Microsoft,” a statement said.
Spirit said it was unable to rebook affected customers due to the outage.
The disruption also spread to Europe, with the continent's largest airline, Ryanair, advising passengers to arrive early, saying the outage was causing “disruption across the network”.
KLM also said it had to “largely halt operations” because the outage “made flight handling impossible.”
British Airways, Wizz Air, Turkish Airlines, Eurowings, Lufthansa and Qantas also said they were affected.
911 lines
According to a Facebook post from the Alaska State Troopers, emergency lines in the state have also been affected.
The message said: “Due to a nationwide technology outage, many 911 and non-emergency response centers are not functioning properly in the state of Alaska.”
“We appreciate your patience and will keep you updated as we learn more,” the statement said.
Airports
Major UK airports Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton have reported problems, with some warning of delays and disruption.
An X-post from Gatwick Express, a train service serving the airport, said the company was unable to access driver schedules at certain locations, “leading to potential cancellations at short notice, particularly on the Thameslink and Great Northern networks.”
A Belfast International Airport spokesperson confirmed to BI that whiteboards were used to handwrite flight information before the systems were later restored. Whiteboards were also used at Singapore Changi Airport.
Hospitals and doctors' practices
Several hospitals and doctors' offices appear to have been affected by the power outage.
In the UK, there appear to be problems with the NHS EMIS system, which doctors use to book appointments, view patient details, order prescriptions and make referrals.
An NHS spokesperson told BI in a statement: “The NHS is aware of a global IT outage and an issue with EMIS, an appointments and patient records system, which is causing disruption to most GP practices.”
They said long-standing measures had been put in place to manage the disruption and there were no known impacts on 999 or emergency services, so people should continue to use these services as normal.
“Patients should attend their appointments unless instructed otherwise and should only contact their GP if it is urgent. Otherwise, you can call 111 online or dial 111,” they added.
Two German hospitals have cancelled elective surgeries scheduled for Friday, Reuters news agency reports.
NYCT Subway
Commuters in New York City and Washington DC may also face delays Friday morning.
In an X message, the NYCT subway said: “Train arrival information is unavailable for A/B/C/D/E/F/G/J/M/N/Q/R/Z/Rockaway Park Shuttle/Franklin Av Shuttle due to a global technical issue. Train service is not affected.”
The report said the outage also affected Subway employees' ability to see the location of trains.
Broadcasters
Sky News also appears to have been affected by the outage, with the British news channel showing archive footage and briefly displaying an error message.
The news site appears to be operational at the time of writing.
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange website also experienced problems.
“The RNS news service is currently experiencing a technical issue with a third party globally, which is preventing news from being published on www.londonstockexchange.com,” the company said in a statement.
“Technical teams are working to restore the service. Other services within the group, including the London Stock Exchange, continue to operate as normal,” it continued.
Retailers and fast food giants
Bloomberg reported that McDonald's Japan closed about a third of its stores in the country on Friday. The problem was with the stores' cash registers, the report said.
Supermarket chain Woolworths told BI that some stores had been “impacted by the global IT issue.” All but six stores were open for business, but some had fewer cash registers working.
Delivery delays
FedEx and UPS are warning of delivery delays due to the power outage.
In a statement on the company's website, FedEx said it was experiencing “significant disruptions to our networks due to a global IT outage at a third-party software vendor.” The company said packages scheduled for delivery on Friday may be delayed.
A UPS spokesperson told BI that UPS is still operating effectively, but there may be delays in service due to a third-party outage, which is “impacting a number of UPS computer systems in the U.S. and Europe.”
Some driver services in the US state are not available
In some states, drivers are unable to access services due to the outage.
The Georgia Department of Driver Services posted on X the following: “Due to the global Microsoft/Crowdstrike outage, DDS services are currently unavailable.”
According to a post on X, the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security has indicated that some Driver Services Centers may not be able to process transactions.
According to a CNN report, the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles' driver's license and license plate offices are also being affected and are unable to assist customers.
Hotels
Bloomberg reported that staff at the Ocean Park Marriott in Hong Kong used pen and paper to check in guests, saying the outage had a global impact on their systems.
Marriott International later told CNN in a statement that “certain hotel systems” were affected.
“We are actively working with our suppliers to resolve issues that have impacted certain hotel systems,” the company said in a statement to the publication. “We apologize for any inconvenience guests may experience.”
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