MicroSoft Cloud Services faces global outage; airlines booking, check-in, other services affected

New Delhi: A technical issue at Microsoft and CrowdStrike disrupted services globally today. Millions of Windows users saw a bugcheck\blue screen error, causing shutdowns and restarts. Microsoft reported that a “configuration change” in its Azure backend  (a cloud-based model clearing the path for organizations to fulfill their web, mobile, or API needs) caused connectivity failures, impacting Microsoft 365 services.

Indian airlines like SpiceJet, IndiGo, Air India Express, and Akasa Air have reported issues with booking, check-in, and flight updates, causing delays and cancellations. Passengers faced difficulties due to the lack of service at airports. Air India experienced delays as its digital systems were temporarily affected. IndiGo noted slower check-ins and longer queues due to the issue with Microsoft Azure. Akasa Air and SpiceJet also faced interruptions in their online services, including booking and check-in.

Indian airports issued a warning mentioning that the outage has affected flights across India and that flyers should contact their respective airlines for more information. One such tweet was shared by Ahmedabad Airport too. 

 

#AhmedabadAirport #PassengerAdvisory pic.twitter.com/U2W6iypCbJ

— Ahmedabad Airport (@ahmairport) July 19, 2024

Meanwhile, some passengers shared their experiences at airports. some passengers received a hand-written boarding pass. 

The Microsoft / CrowdStrike outage has taken down most airports in India. I got my first hand-written boarding pass today 😅 pic.twitter.com/xsdnq1Pgjr

— Akshay Kothari (@akothari) July 19, 2024

 

Never thought I’d see a day when boarding passes went back to being written by hand. The #microsoft & #cloudstrike outage has many airports across India writing up boarding passes in an attempt to keep flights and operations as normal as possible. pic.twitter.com/TIBb7Yy8uf

— amogh kashyap (@_amoghkashyap) July 19, 2024

 

Microsoft shared an update on X as users face issues impacting their ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services- “Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions. More details can be found within the admin center under MO821132 and http://status.cloud.microsoft “

Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways recently shared about the outage on X.

 

MEITY is in touch with Microsoft and its associates regarding the global outage.

The reason for this outage has been identified and updates have been released to resolve the issue.

CERT is issuing a technical advisory.

NIC network is not affected.

— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) July 19, 2024

Users experienced issues accessing Microsoft apps and services, including Microsoft 365, Teams, and Azure. Additionally, some reported problems with Instagram, Amazon, Gmail, and several Indian banks such as SBI, ICICI, Bank of India, and HDFC.

In addition, many corporate companies in Hyderabad and Bengaluru experienced system issues, with systems restarting after showing a blue screen. Employees in Hyderabad were instructed to turn off their systems for two hours. DeshGujarat