On Friday, a widespread Microsoft outage caused significant disruptions globally, affecting airlines, banks, media outlets, and various businesses.
Travelers at airports worldwide, including those in North Texas, faced long lines, delays, and flight cancellations as officials worked to address the issue.
Emergency services were also impacted by the outage. In North Texas, the City of Plano experienced issues with its non-emergency number, though 911 services remained functional. The problem was resolved shortly after 6 a.m. on Friday.
Plano 911 Update:
Due to the global cybersecurity issue with CrowdStrike, we are facing problems with some software and our non-emergency number (972-424-5678). However, 911 services are still operational. Please do not call or text 911 to test the service.
— City of Plano (@cityofplanotx) July 19, 2024
Local hospitals were also affected, with Cook Children’s Hospital reporting difficulties in patient check-ins, which had to be handled manually. These issues have since been resolved.
Media outlets, including NBC 5 News, were disrupted as well, with limited access to video, interviews, live cameras, and other essential elements of a newscast.
Microsoft 365 addressed the issue on Thursday night, stating they were investigating problems affecting access to various Microsoft 365 apps and services. By Friday morning, Microsoft reported ongoing improvements and progress in restoring services.
Microsoft 365 Status Update:
We are seeing continuous improvements in service availability as we progress with mitigation efforts. More details can be found in the admin center under MO821132 and on https://t.co/uSHwRmYdzx
— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) July 19, 2024
According to CNBC, Microsoft’s cloud services have been restored, but some users still reported issues. The outage is linked to problems with a recent update from Austin-based cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, which affected Windows systems globally, causing the infamous “blue screen of death.”
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz clarified on Friday morning that the issue, which did not affect Mac or Linux computers, was not related to a security incident or cyberattack. The defect in the update has been identified and isolated, with a fix deployed.
CrowdStrike Update:
CrowdStrike is working with customers affected by a defect in a Windows content update. Mac and Linux computers are not affected. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix has been deployed.
— George Kurtz (@George_Kurtz) July 19, 2024
In North Texas, travelers at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field encountered “blue screens of death” on monitors when trying to check in on Friday morning.
DFW Airport officials stated that a technology issue with an airline vendor was impacting several operations. They advised passengers to check their flight status with their airlines.
American Airlines, based in Fort Worth, reported that it had re-established operations by 4 a.m. CT and lifted a ground stop issued earlier due to the outage. Despite this, travelers continued to face delays and cancellations.
American Airlines Update:
A technical issue with a vendor affected multiple carriers, including American. We re-established operations by 5:00 a.m. ET and lifted the ground stop. We apologize for the inconvenience.
— americanair (@AmericanAir) July 19, 2024
Delta, Frontier, and United Airlines were also affected. Delta recommended using the Fly Delta app for updates, and United issued a waiver for travelers needing to change their plans while they worked to restore impacted systems. Southwest Airlines reported no issues as of Friday morning.
By 8 a.m., flight tracking service FlightAware reported that 301 American Airlines flights were canceled and 274 delayed. Delta had canceled 369 flights and delayed 360, while United had canceled 180 flights and delayed 293.
Travelers were advised to check their flight status with their airlines and follow updates from DFW Airport and Dallas Love Field as the situation continued to develop.
— Dallas Love Field Airport (@DallasLoveField) July 19, 2024
