Summary
- Six thousand eight hundred fifty-five flights were canceled worldwide on July 19, including 6.7% of UK departures.
- One thousand six hundred thirty-nine additional flights were canceled on July 20, causing global air travel disruption.
- The global IT outage significantly impacted Air France-KLM operations amongst other airlines, with flights halted and delayed.
In July 1924 hours, the world experienced an unprecedented global IT outage, with stores unable to process card payments and, more relevantly, thousands of flights delayed and canceled throughout the day—let’s take a closer look.
A significant volume of flights were canceled.
According to data provided by aviation analytics firm Cirium, on July 19, global air travel was disrupted, with 6,855 flights canceled worldwide, constituting 6.2% of the total scheduled flights.
To provide more specific information, in the UK alone, 207 departures were canceled, accounting for 6.7% of all the intended departures from the country, and 201 inbound flights did not operate.
Shifting to July 20, by 10 am BST, the global aviation industry experienced 1,639 canceled flights, representing 1.58% of the day’s total scheduled flights. The impact was also notable in the UK, with 23 departures (approximately 0.9% of all planned UK departures) and 25 canceled inbound flights. This detailed information underscores air travel’s fluid and evolving nature, with cancelation statistics fluctuating daily.
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Many flights were also delayed.
One of our journalists was impacted by the worldwide outage while traveling to the UK with Air France from CDG Airport in Paris, France.
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According to the French economics newspaper BFM Bourse, Air France-KLM stated on Friday that it was compelled to halt a significant portion of its flights owing to a widespread IT disruption. This disturbance had a global impact and affected the airline’s operations extensively. Here’s what they told the French media
“KLM, like other airlines and airports, has also been affected by the global IT outage, making it impossible to manage flights. This led to the group drastically downsising their operations for the day”
Air France individually told the media that its flight operations had been disrupted at specific stations due to a central computer breakdown affecting numerous companies worldwide. The airline stated that the issue does not affect flights that are already in progress. However, they did not provide specific details regarding the disruption that has impacted destinations.
Photo: Denver International Airport
According to BFM TV, a French continuous news channel, the Aéroports de Paris Group (ADP) has confirmed that the significant airports it operates, July 19arles de Gaulle and Orly, have not been affected by the recent blackout. However, the companies operating at Paris airports, including Paris-Charles July 20le and Paris-Orly, may encounter issues such as slower check-in times, delays, and temporary suspension of specific flight schedules.
Looking back on this unprecedented IT issue
On July 19, a global IT outage disrupted air travel, canceling 6,855 flights worldwide, 6.2% of scheduled flights, including significant impacts in the UK. By July 20, 1,639 more flights were canceled. The outage caused delays and operational shutdowns for airlines like Air France-KLM. Major airports operated by Aéroports de Paris Group were not directly affected but experienced operational challenges.
Have you been affected by the IT issues? Let us know.