From the London Stock Exchange to US 911 services, Microsoft outage wreaks havoc around the world

Microsoft’s global outage is causing widespread disruption across industries, from airlines to supermarkets to banking. The scale of the outage highlights the critical reliance many industries have on Microsoft’s cloud services. If not resolved quickly, it could cause massive problems around the world.

Banks
Media
Airports

You name it, someone who uses it @CrowdStrike feel pain this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/05UQLUi6jU

— RMXD (@RMXD) July 19, 2024

In India, three major airlines, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa Air, are facing major technical issues due to the outage. These issues are affecting essential services such as booking, check-in and flight updates, forcing airlines to resort to manual check-in processes.

#Travel Update:Due to infrastructure issues with our service provider, some of our online services, including booking, check-in and reservation management services, will be temporarily unavailable. Currently, we are following manual check-in and boarding processes at airports and, as a result,

-Akasa Air (@AkasaAir) July 19, 2024

#ImportantUpdate:We are currently experiencing technical difficulties with our service provider, impacting online services including booking, check-in and reservation management functionalities. As a result, we have enabled manual check-in and boarding processes at all airports.

— SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) July 19, 2024

IndiGo issued a statement acknowledging the disruption and asking its passengers to be patient.

Similarly, Akasa Air posted a message on X informing passengers of the temporary unavailability of some online services and advising those with immediate travel plans to arrive at the airport early to check in manually.

Delhi airport has also reported temporary impact on some of its services due to the global IT glitch. Airport authorities are working closely with stakeholders to minimise inconvenience and have urged passengers to stay in touch with their respective airlines for updated flight information.

Australia is one of the worst-hit countries. The outage has caused significant disruption, including the downing of payment systems at Woolworths supermarkets and problems with ABC News 24's broadcast, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Additionally, several customers have reported their cards are not working and police systems have also been impacted. Melbourne Airport has said the check-in process for several airlines is affected and Virgin Australia has implemented a ground stop at Sydney Airport, halting all inbound and outbound flights.

The outage also impacted the London Stock Exchange, causing operational difficulties. In the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration reported that flights by several major airlines, including Delta, United and American Airlines, were suspended due to communications problems.

Additionally, 911 emergency services in several states were affected and the British news channel Sky News went off the air.

In Europe, technical problems are causing check-in delays at Amsterdam airport, and Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Germany has had to cancel flight operations due to a “technical problem”, with no clear indication of when flight movements will resume.

Additionally, millions of Windows users worldwide are facing the Blue Screen of Death, which causes their computer to shut down or restart unexpectedly. This issue in some cases leads to repeated reboots, which results in loss of unsaved data and waste of critical time for users.

Microsoft 365 acknowledged the issue and said it was investigating the matter. The outage, which began Thursday evening, affected multiple Azure services in the US Central region, impacting service management operations and service connectivity or availability.

This incident highlights the magnitude of the impact a single outage can have across multiple industries and geographies, demonstrating the critical role of reliable cloud infrastructure in modern operations. As Microsoft works to resolve the issue, businesses and individuals are facing significant disruptions to their daily operations and services.