ELENA RODRIGUEZ/Reuters
- A huge global IT outage is disrupting flights, banks, retailers, and media outlets.
- The widespread disruptions have been linked to an issue with the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
- Operations affected include airlines in the US and Europe, supermarkets, and some 911 lines.
A mass IT outage has hit flights, banks, retailers, and media outlets around the world.
The issues appear to be linked to the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
Microsoft also acknowledged the issue in an X update early Friday, writing, "Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions."
Here are some of the companies and operations affected.
Airlines
Numerous airlines grounded flights early Friday morning, including the big three US carriers: United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines. In statements, they all cited technology issues.
Delta and American had both canceled their ground stops by 7 a.m. ET.
A United spokesperson told Business Insider that it was holding all aircraft at their departure airports while it works to restore systems. "Flights already airborne are continuing to their destinations," they added.
American has blamed the issues on CrowdStrike, saying they were because of a "technical issue with Crowdstrike that is impacting multiple carriers," according to BBC News.
The budget airlines Frontier, Allegiant, and Spirit also issued ground stops which were later canceled.
Frontier's was issued on Thursday night. "Flight operations are currently being impacted by a major Microsoft technical outage," it said in a statement.
Spirit said it was unable to rebook affected customers because of the outage.
Disruption also extended to Europe. The continent's largest airline, Ryanair, advised passengers to arrive early as the outage caused "disruption across the network."
KLM also said it had to "largely suspend operations" as the outage made "flight handling impossible."
British Airways, Wizz Air, Turkish Airlines, Eurowings, Lufthansa, and Qantas were also among those who said they were affected.
911 lines
According to a Facebook post from Alaska State Troopers, emergency lines in the state are also affected.
The post said: "Due to a nationwide technology-related outage, many 911 and non-emergency call centers are not working correctly across the State of Alaska."
"We appreciate your patience and will update you when we know more," the statement added.
Airports
The major UK airports Heathrow, Gatwick, and Luton have reported issues, with some warning of delays and disruption.
An X post from Gatwick Express, a train service for the airport, said the company was unable to access driver diagrams at certain locations, "leading to potential short-notice cancelations, particularly on the Thameslink and Great Northern networks."
A spokesperson for Belfast International Airport confirmed to BI that whiteboards were being used to handwrite flight information before systems were later restored. Whiteboards were also used at Singapore Changi Airport.
Hospitals and doctors' surgeries
Several hospitals and doctors' practices appear to have been affected by the outage.
In the UK, the NHS' EMIS system, which doctors use to book appointments, view patient notes, order prescriptions, and make referrals, appears to be having issues.
A spokesperson for the NHS told BI in a statement: "The NHS is aware of a global IT outage and an issue with EMIS, an appointment and patient record system, which is causing disruption in the majority of GP practices."
They said that long-standing measures were in place to manage disruption and that there was no known impact on 999 or emergency services, so people should use these services as normal.
"Patients should attend appointments unless told otherwise and only contact their GP if it's urgent, and otherwise please use 111 online or call 111," they added.
Two German hospitals canceled elective operations scheduled for Friday, Reuters reported.
NYCT Subway
Commuters in New York City and DC may also face delays Friday morning.
In an X post, 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 worldwide technical outage. Train service is unaffected."
The post said the tech outage also impacted Subway officials' ability to see train locations.
Broadcasters
Sky News also appears to have been hit by the outage. The UK news channel has been showing archive footage and briefly displaying an error message.
The news site appears to be up and running at the time of writing.
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange's website was also experiencing issues.
"RNS news service is currently experiencing a third-party global technical issue, 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 across the group, including London Stock Exchange, continue to operate as normal," it continued.
Retailers and fast-food giants
Bloomberg reported that McDonald's Japan suspended about a third of its stores in the country on Friday. The issue was with the stores' cash registers, the report said.
The grocery-store chain Woolworths told BI that some stores had "been impacted as a result of the global IT issue." All but six stores were open for business, but some had fewer functioning checkouts.
Delivery delays
FedEx and UPS are warning of delivery delays because of the outage.
In a statement on the company's website, FedEx said it was experiencing "substantial disruptions throughout our networks due to a global IT outage experienced by a third-party software vendor." The company said parcels due to be delivered on Friday might face delays.
A UPS spokesperson told BI that it continues to operate effectively but there may be some service delays due to third-party outage "impacting some UPS computer systems in the U.S. and Europe."
Some US state driver services are down
Drivers in some states are unable to access services because of the outage.
Georgia's Department of Driver Services posted on X that "due to the global Microsoft/Crowdstrike outage, DDS services are unavailable at this time."
Tennessee's Department of Safety and Homeland Security said some Driver Services Centers may not be able to process transactions, according to a post on X.
North Carolina's Department of Motor Vehicles driver license and plate agencies are also impacted and unable to assist customers, according to a CNN report.
Hotels
Bloomberg reported that at the Ocean Park Marriott in Hong Kong, staff were using pen and paper to check guests in and said the outage was affecting their systems globally.
Marriott International later told CNN in a statement that "certain hotel systems" have been affected.
"We are actively working with our vendors to resolve issues that have impacted certain hotel systems," the company said in a statement to the publication. "We apologize for any inconvenience that guests may experience."