Microsoft Outage Disrupts Air Travel at Logan Airport

A global Microsoft outage on Friday grounded all flights at Logan Airport in Boston. 

Microsoft Outage

The outage impacted airlines along with banks, media companies, trains, and healthcare systems that rely on Microsoft's 365 applications. Paramount, the parent company of CBS News and WBZ-TV, was also affected.

At Logan Airport, passengers were informed that all flights on all airlines were grounded until at least 8 a.m. due to the outage. Travelers were advised to check the status of their flights before heading to the airport.

Many travelers arriving for their morning flights were caught off guard by the news. Long lines formed at airline desks as the software for flight routes was down. Alice Kendall, who was planning to leave Boston on a Delta flight, shared her experience with WBZ-TV:

"We were first told we couldn't check our bags in because all the computers were down. They told us to get our tags at the kiosk, but then the kiosk didn't work either. So we went back to the desk, and then they told us our flight to Salt Lake, where we were connecting to Sun Valley, Idaho, was canceled. There was no way for us to get out today."

CrowdStrike Disruption

American Airlines attributed the problem to a technical issue with CrowdStrike, a global cybersecurity firm. According to CBS News, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz stated that they are "actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted."

"This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix has been deployed," Kurtz said. "We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website. We further recommend organizations ensure they're communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers."

News Source- Transport Chronicle