LEXINGTON, Ky. — An outage of cybersecurity company, CrowdStrike and Microsoft disrupted services across the globe Friday morning. Hospitals, emergency services and airports are some of the most affected industries, including here in Kentucky.

What You Need To Know

  • A global outage of CrowdStrike and Microsoft caused major flight delays and cancellations Friday 

  • The FAA issued a full ground stop for all flights, some have been lifted 

  • Airports in Kentucky saw cancellations and delays 

  • Airport officials suggest checking your airline's app for up to date information regarding flight status

Airports from Louisville to Lexington are navigating delayed and canceled flights amid a global technology outage. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop on all flights because of the outage.

Lauren White, public relations director at Blue Grass Airport said the issue affected Delta, American Airlines, United and Allegiant flies to and from Lexington.

“Unfortunately, when you see a ground stop like this, there will be a ripple effect; like you’re seeing those aircraft go from A to B to C and they’re kind of having to catch up to all those things. It’s not something you can immediately recover from,” White said.

While flights have taken off again, White said arrival and departure times will be skewed the rest of Friday and potentially through the weekend.

“Give yourself a little extra time and check with your airline’s mobile app so you can get the most up-to-date updates,” White said.

Travelers at Muhammad Ali International Airport in Louisville are now looking for alternative options to get home. Jackie Wilder had her flight canceled Friday.

“It’s a little bit rough, not a lot of information, lot of delays. Delta is trying their best to give us information, but it is what it is,” Wilder said.

Wilder was in Louisville for business. She’s making the best of the situation as she hopes to get back to her home in Michigan.

“I would like to get home today (Friday) for sure although Louisville has been great and we’ve had some great restaurants so if we maybe had to be delayed and try a few other places we could get on board with it,” Wilder said.

Muhammad Ali International Airport’s public relations manager, Natalie Chaudoin, asks travelers for patience.

“Our airport systems, including the TSA security checkpoint, remain operational and normal throughout, so this really was an issue related directly to the airlines and their software networks,” Chaudoin said.

According to its flight tracking website, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in Covington also has many delays and cancelations.

CrowdStrike’s CEO posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Friday’s incident was not the result of a security issue.

Related Stories