AirAsia passengers wait to be manually checked in at Kuala Lumpur International Airport after a global computer system outage, in Sepang, Malaysia, on Friday. (Hasnoor Hussain/Reuters)
Early Friday morning, CrowdStrike, a popular cybersecurity firm, rolled out a security update that was automatically installed on Microsoft servers. caused a massive outage around the world, affecting businesses ranging from airlines to hospitals to banks and schools.
For airports in particular, CrowdStrike outage is likely the biggest computer problem in historywhich has resulted in the delay of more than 26,000 flights and the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights in the United States alone. Allegiant Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Spirit Airlines and United Airlines are among the airlines that have had to temporarily suspend flights.
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Georgia, the world's busiest airport, reportedly had the highest number of flights affected by the outage. More than 230 inbound and outbound flights were canceled at that airport alone.
As of Friday afternoon, it appears that U.S. airlines have slowly begun to resume normal operations, hours after the technology outage began.
In Germany, all flights to Berlin Brandenburg Airport have been temporarily suspendedalthough some departures began to resume around 5 a.m. ET. Dutch airline KLM also announced Zurich airport, Switzerland's largest, announced that planes were not allowed to land this morning.
Below are photos from airports around the world showing travelers dealing with the aftermath of the CrowdStrike outage.
Travelers at Los Angeles International Airport sleep in a jetway due to a delayed United Airlines flight to Dulles International Airport. (Stefanie Dazio/AP)
A person with luggage waits at Berlin Brandenburg Airport in Germany. (Nadja Wohlleben/Reuters)
A flight schedule shows a cancelled flight at Berlin airport. (Tobias Schlie/Reuters)
Travelers queue at Brussels airport. (Harry Nakos/AP)
Passengers check flight information at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)
Passengers queue for manual check-in at Hong Kong International Airport. (Kanis Leung/AP)
Travelers wait in line at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport in Baltimore. (Stephanie Scarbrough/AP)
A traveler at Los Angeles International Airport sits in a jetway due to a delayed United Airlines flight. (Stefanie Dazi/AP)
AirAsia passengers wait to be manually checked in at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. (Hasnoor Hussain/Reuters)
Passengers wait at London Stansted Airport in Essex, England. (Joe Giddens/PA via AP)
A screen displays a Microsoft Windows recovery message at Madrid Barajas International Airport in Spain. (Paul White/AP)
Passengers walk to an entrance gate at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai, India. (Rajanish Kakade/AP)
Passengers queue for manual check-in near a sign announcing a check-in system outage at Hong Kong International Airport. (Kanis Leung/AP)
Passengers wait to check in at Bangkok's Don Mueang International Airport. (Sakchai Lalit/AP)
A woman walks past the departures board at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. (Thomas Padilla/AP)
A Paris Olympics volunteer watches planes on the tarmac at Charles de Gaulle airport. (Thomas Padilla/AP)
Travelers walk past the departures board at Charles de Gaulle Airport. (Thomas Padilla/AP)
A little boy lies on the ground as travelers queue at Brussels airport. (Harry Nakos/AP)
A baggage handler walks on the tarmac at Linate Airport in Milan. (Luca Bruno/AP)
Two travelers sit on a bench overlooking the runway at Brussels airport. (Harry Nakos/AP)
Travelers wait for information in front of a departure board at Brussels airport. (Harry Nak/AP)
A child looks out the window at parked planes as he waits at Linate Airport in Milan. (Luca Bruno/AP)
