Atlanta airport flights delayed amid nationwide FAA ground stop

Flights at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and around the globe were canceled or delayed on Friday, July 19, due to a major technology outage affecting Microsoft systems.

The big picture: There were reports of massive online outages disrupting travel, banking and news outlets worldwide on Friday, as CrowdStrike , a cybersecurity company that services multiple industries, went down worldwide.

• The Federal Aviation Administration said Friday that it is "closely monitoring a technical issue impacting IT systems at U.S. airlines" and that several airlines had requested "assistance with ground stops for their fleets."
• George Kurtz, president and CEO of CrowdStrike, said in a post to X the company was "actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts."

Driving the news: American, Delta, United and Allegiant Airlines grounded flights early Friday morning due to communications issues, per an FAA alert.

Zoom in: Flights at Hartsfield-Jackson were experiencing an average delay of 374 minutes on Friday morning, according to a tracking system on the FAA's website .

• Delta Air Lines said mid-morning it had resumed some of its flights but anticipated additional delays and cancellations throughout the day.
• As of 11:40am, there had been 628 delayed flights at ATL and 413 cancellations, per Flight Aware .
• It issued a travel waiver to all customers with flights departing Friday and said fare differences would be waived for passengers rebooking on or before July 24.

Zoom out: MARTA announced at 8:44am via X that its main website , as well as its websites for its smart card and real-time service information, were unavailable, but its bus, rail, and streetcar services are still operating.

• The Georgia Department of Human Services also announced that the outage is affecting its systems.
• The Georgia Department of Driver Services also announced its services are unavailable.
• Fulton County says it cannot process vehicle tags at this time.
• The city of Roswell said its email and phone systems are down. Its 911 center is operational and its IT department is working to fix the issue, but they said it may take most of today to restore services.

What they're saying: Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said via X that "despite global Microsoft outages, City systems and operations remain mostly unaffected."

• "While some airlines experienced issues, flights are resuming. Thank you for your patience. We're in contact with impacted hospitals and ready to support," Dickens said.

Editor's note: This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.