A glitch within an Austin-based cybersecurity company's software update has grounded flights and disrupted technology systems around the world.
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport said travelers flying out Friday should check their flight status before heading to the airport. American, Delta and United grounded all of their flights Friday morning after the company, CrowdStrike, pushed out a software update to Microsoft Windows systems that contained a "defect," the company said in a statement.
"CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts," the company said. "Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack."
As of 7 a.m., ABIA said some Delta flights are resuming operation worldwide, but delays should be expected.
Mariel Lubeck, who was hoping to fly out of Austin's airport Friday, said she doesn't have information on her flight yet and was unable to load her airline's app.
"There are tons of people here [and] there are probably three flights at one gate," she said. "People are trying to figure out what gate [their flight is] going to be at."
Driver's license offices are closed statewide due to a technical issue, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. DPS says it did not have an estimate for when the offices will reopen. The Travis County Tax Office says it will be closed until 1 p.m. Friday.
The outage has also affected 911 call centers in some states, disrupted hospital and banking systems worldwide and knocked some television stations off the air, NPR reports.
The City of Austin said the outage did not affect local 911 operations, but it did require dispatchers to use radios for a few hours instead of their computer systems. The 311 call center was also unavailable for about three hours overnight, the city said.
Baylor Scott & White Health said it is experiencing issues at its hospitals locally. "Patient care is safely continuing as we work through issues related to the technical disruption that is impacting computer systems across the globe," the hospital system said in a statement to KUT.
Capital Metro, Austin's public transit agency, said it was also affected by the global technology outage but that its systems are now back up and running.
This is a developing story.
KUT's Nathan Bernier, Olivia Aldridge and Luz Moreno-Lozano contributed reporting to this story.
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