Microsoft's Global Outage Sparks Immediate Response: Resolution Expected Soon

New Delhi, India: After a major outage in microsoft’s cloud services on Friday (July 19) hit business across the world, the American multinational corporation and technology company has responded. “Anticipate a resolution is forthcoming,” it said in its statement. 

Crowdstrike CEO on Microsoft outage

George Kurtz, the CEO of Crowdstrike, said, "Crowdstrike is 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. We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website.

He added, “We further recommend organisations ensure they’re communicating with Crowdstrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilised to ensure the security and stability of Crowdstrike customers.”

A major disruption in airport and airline operations occurred due to a widespread Microsoft outage. Several airlines, including IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Akasa, faced significant issues with their online check-in and boarding systems, leading to a temporary shift to manual processes. 

The outage, which also impacted international airlines and major banks, was linked to a problem with a recent CrowdStrike update. 

Passengers at Bengaluru airport experienced delays as Indigo, Air India Express, SpiceJet, and Akasa resorted to issuing handwritten boarding passes after the Navitaire Departure Control System malfunctioned. Meanwhile, Windows users around the globe encountered Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) errors, causing unexpected system shutdowns and restarts.

What airlines have said on the outage?

Following the outage, Spicejet issued a statement saying,"#ImportantUpdate: We're currently facing a technical issue in providing updates on flight disruptions. Our team is actively working to resolve this issue. We regret for any inconvenience caused and will update you once the issue is resolved. Thank you for your patience and co-operation."

"Our systems are currently impacted by a Microsoft outage, which is also affecting other companies. During this time booking, check-in, access to your boarding pass, and some flights may be impacted," IndiGo said.

"We are all hands-on decks and are working to restore stability and normalcy. Our digital team is also coordinating closely with Microsoft Azure to resolve these issues swiftly," it stated.

Budget carrier Akasa Airlines announced that some of its online services will be temporarily unavailable at the Mumbai and Delhi airports. It issued a statement on X and wrote, “Due to infrastructure issues with our service provider, some of our online services, including booking, check-in and manage booking services will be temporarily unavailable. Currently we are following manual check-in and boarding processes at the airports and hence request passengers with immediate travel plans to reach the airport early to check-in at our counters. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and want to assure you that our teams are working with our service provider to resolve the same at the earliest.”

Vistara has also mentioned technical challenges. "We're experiencing technical challenges across various aspects of our operations due to a global outage at our service provider's end. We are working with them to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We regret any inconvenience caused and appreciate your patience," it has said in a post on X.

Air India Express said, “Global digital infrastructure issues with cloud services are temporarily impacting operations across multiple airlines, airports and other businesses globally. As a result, our website, reservation and airport check-in systems are also impacted. Please plan your travel and keep sufficient time in hand for airport procedures. We regret the inconvenience and appreciate your patience and understanding during this time.”

Delhi airport has also said that some services have been affected. "Due to the global IT issue, some of the services at the Delhi Airport were temporarily impacted. We are closely working with all our stakeholders to minimise the inconvenience to our flyers. Passengers are requested to be in touch with the airline concerned or the help desk on ground for updated flight information. We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers," they said in a statement. 

In the US, Frontier Airlines experienced significant disruptions, grounding flights for over two hours due to problems with Microsoft’s services. The airline later resumed operations and lifted the nationwide pause on departures. The outage also affected reservations and bookings. Allegiant Air reported similar issues with reservations and is working to resolve them. Sun Country Airlines Holdings Inc also reported a “global outage.”