An alert from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said that major US carriers, such as United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and American Airlines, have asked for a ground stop for all flights due to a communications issue.
The agency has also asked the air traffic controllers to inform pilots already in the air about various airlines facing communication problems. It has been reported that all flights already airborne will keep flying, but no new flights will take off.
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According to CNN, the ground stop impacts all airlines’ flights, regardless of where they were scheduled to fly. Details are still emerging, but it’s uncertain how long the ground stop will last. The FAA has said that an update might be available at 05:00 ET.
Global issue?
Meanwhile, there are reports that Melbourne Airport in Australia is also “experiencing a global technology issue” affecting its check-in procedures.
ABCNews reports global IT outages in other parts of the world, with banks, airlines, airports, and even media companies facing issues. Berlin Airport, the London Stock Exchange, Google Cloud, and Gatwick Airport have all reportedly been affected.
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The report also says Crowdstrike, the US cybersecurity company, has said that it was responsible for the error and is currently working to rectify it.
This is a developing story. Watch this space for more updates.