Ground stops issued for multiple airlines amid communications systems issues

ATLANTA — Several major airlines have issued ground stops for all flights as communications systems caused by computer outages persist.

There are ground stops in place for Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Allegiant Airlines, according to the FAA. Spirit Airlines was added to the list just after 5 a.m.

Previously issued ground stops for American Airlines flights was lifted at 4:47 a.m., according to the FAA, but has been reinstated as of 5:30 a.m.

Microsoft’s Azure status page shows new details about issues impacting online systems around the world, saying in part that Virtual Machines running the CrowdStrike Falcon agent were impacted by a bug during a recent system update, causing a restarting loop.

Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz posted a statement online saying the company was aware of the issue and working to fix it, but that the problem was not from a security incident.

The Associated Press has reported the technical outages were also impacting some banks on Friday morning. The website DownDectector, which tracks user-reported internet outages, recorded growing outages in services at Visa, ADT security and Amazon, the AP reported.

The ground stops follow similar issues at Frontier Airlines from overnight, which were attributed to an issue related to an outage of services from Microsoft.

Frontier Airlines issued the following statement overnight to ABC News saying:

“Frontier Airlines’ flight operations are currently being impacted by a major Microsoft technical outage. The airline has initiated a ground stop and is working with outside vendors to restore normal operations. We will share additional information as it becomes available.”

Later on Thursday, Frontier provided an update, saying “The ground stop has been lifted and our systems are gradually normalizing. We are in the process of resuming flight operations.”

CNN also reported that Frontier told customers it would be offering refunds to customers inconvenienced by the issue.

Updated Delta Air Lines statement:

“Delta issued an update via its Delta News Hub on X. “Delta has resumed some flight departures after a vendor technology issue impacted several airlines and businesses around the world. That issue necessitated a pause in Delta’s global flight schedule this morning while it was addressed.”

Updated United Airlines statement:

“A third-party software outage impacted computer systems worldwide, including at United. We are resuming some flights but expect schedule disruptions to continue throughout Friday. We have issued a waiver to make it easier for customers to change their travel plans via United.com or the United app.”

American Airlines statement:

“We’re aware of a technical issue with CrowdStrike that is impacting multiple carriers. American is working with CrowdStrike to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” American Airlines said. “A ground stop is currently in place, impacting departing flights,” and they “are in contact with our planes currently in flight.”

Delta Air Lines statement:

“All Delta flights are paused as we work through a vendor technology issue. Any customers whose flights are impacted will be notified by Delta via the Fly Delta app and text message. Customers should use the Fly Delta app for updates. We apologize for the inconvenience as our teams work through this issue. Reports indicated that other airlines may also be impacted.”

President updated: President Joe Bien has been briefed on the outage, The New York Times reported. Several governmental cybersecurity experts are already meeting at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado. Administration officials are “”in touch with CrowdStrike and impacted entities. His team is engaged across the interagency to get sector by sector updates throughout the day and is standing by to provide assistance as needed.”