MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Airlines have resumed operations at Memphis International Airport after a software issue led to global technology disruptions, communications issues, and flight delays.
MEM leaders said though operations have resumed, schedules could continue to be affected throughout the day. Passengers should check their flights before heading to the airport.
The computer glitches started late Thursday night, affecting businesses across the world. In an interview with the TODAY Show, Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz explained the outage was caused by a software bug included in an update that went out to Windows machines. It caused many Windows computers to not be able to boot up, or to be stuck on a blue screen.
CrowdStrike sent out a fix for the error, but computers may still take time to restart and return to service.
As of 4:30 a.m., a handful of flights out of Memphis were cancelled.
- American Airlines 538, 5:30 a.m. to Charlotte
- American Airlines 1846, 7:22 a.m. to Charlotte
- Delta 4951, 6:00 a.m. to New York-LaGuardia
- Spirit 2868, 5:00 a.m. to Orlando
Travelers are advised to check with their airlines for the most up-to-date information and plan to arrive at the airport two to three hours early.
Airlines, railways and television stations in the United Kingdom were being disrupted by the computer issues. The budget airline Ryanair, train operators TransPennine Express and Govia Thameslink Railway, as well as broadcaster Sky News are among those affected.
Widespread problems were reported at Australian airports, where lines grew and some passengers were stranded as online check-in services and self-service booths were disabled. Passengers in Melbourne queued for more than an hour to check in.
Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport said on its website that the outage was having a “major impact on flights” to and from the busy European hub. The outage came on one of the busiest days of the year for the airport, at the start of many people’s summer vacations.
In Germany, Berlin Airport said Friday morning that “due to a technical fault, there will be delays in check-in.” It said that flights were suspended until 10 a.m. (0800GMT), without giving details, a German news agency reported.
At Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport, some US-bound flights had posted delays, while others were unaffected.
Australian outages reported on the site included the banks NAB, Commonwealth and Bendigo, and the airlines Virgin Australia and Qantas, as well as internet and phone providers such as Telstra.
News outlets in Australia — including the ABC and Sky News — were unable to broadcast on their TV and radio channels, and reported sudden shutdowns of Windows-based computers. Some news anchors broadcast live online from dark offices, in front of computers showing “blue screens of death.”
Shoppers were unable to pay at some supermarkets and stores due to payment system outages.
The New Zealand banks ASB and Kiwibank said their services were down.