The Glitch That Demonstrated the Fragility of Airports Worldwide: How CrowdStrike Became the Biggest Story on a Dramatic Summer Day

Experts initially suspected a cyber attack but later discovered that the global IT outage was due to a poorly executed software update.

Shortly after the turmoil began, it was confirmed that the issue originated from CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity company used to guard Windows. Outlets such as The Verge and BBC soon reported that a global problem had arisen due to an update in the cybersecurity system.

The Verge explained that affected devices were stuck in a reboot loop during the outage, preventing them from restarting properly. The impact has been so severe that several services at airports worldwide, including flight management systems and parking lots, have been disrupted.

Thousands of Passengers Grounded and Delays Worldwide

One of the most affected sectors has been air travel.

The security update failure has caused computers at airports around the world to stop working, resulting in chaos during check-in, access to flights, and departures. Many expect it to take hours for the glitch to be fixed and for operations to return to normal.

The problem arose when airlines were expecting a record number of check-ins due to the increase in summer flights.

Airports all over Europe started the day at half throttle or with no flights at all. In the UK, for instance, significant disruptions in London’s air traffic affect its three main airports: Gatwick, Luton, and Heathrow. Airport staff advice passengers to arrive on time and expect delays at check-in and security checks.

At Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands, flight arrivals have also been severely delayed. Meanwhile, in Zurich, Switzerland, the same situation is expected to last until at least 6:00 p.m. Central European Summer Time.

In Spain’s Madrid-Barajas Airport, a check-in collapse was later resolved by manually collecting data. Flight departure delays have also hit Barcelona's airport. In Mallorca and Menorca, popular destinations in the Balearic Islands, there are significant delays and disruptions, with airport counters overwhelmed and some processes being carried out manually. In Ibiza, thousands of passengers crowded the terminal.

The situation is no better outside Europe. A user on X pointed out that most of India’s airports are currently not operational. They shared a photo of ticket showing that Indian airports are manually checking in passengers.

Sydney Airport, one of the first to report issues stemming from the CrowdStrike update glitch, is also experiencing problems. Some reports show all information screens being down. On Friday, the airport’s official X account confirmed that flights were departing and arriving but warned of long delays and advised passengers to arrive early.

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Airport Recommendations

Airlines and airports are constantly issuing new communications to keep travelers informed and minimize the issues stemming from the global IT outage.

Firstly, they caution that Thursday’s flights may experience delays. Returning to normal operations may take several hours, and the impact will be felt much, if not all, of the day.

Additionally, airlines urge passengers to arrive early at airports. In some cases, manual check-in processes are in place, so the normal procedures may take longer than usual.

Lastly, due to the anticipated increase in airport traffic, it’s recommended to use public transportation whenever possible.

This article was written by Alberto de la Torre and originally published in Spanish on Xataka.

Image | Carlos Coronado via Twitter

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