More US flights canceled amid global cyber outage

REUTERS/BING GUAN / JULY 19 United Airlines employees wait at a departure screen with a blue error screen, also known as the

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REUTERS/BING GUAN / JULY 19

United Airlines employees wait at a departure screen with a blue error screen, also known as the “Blue Screen of Death,” in Terminal C at Newark International Airport after United Airlines and other airlines grounded flights due to a global technical outage caused by an update to CrowdStrike’s “Falcon Sensor” software that crashed Microsoft Windows systems in Newark, New Jersey.

NEW YORK >> More than 1,200 flights were canceled within, to and from the U.S. on Sunday, according to data tracker FlightAware.com. The biggest cancellations were for top carriers Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, as a result of Friday’s global cyber outage.

Airlines are struggling to fix a technical glitch that forced several airlines to ground their flights on Friday.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a press release Sunday that flights were still being canceled Sunday as the airline tries to restart flights after the technical problem.

The pause in Delta’s operations resulted in more than 3,500 Delta and Delta Connection flights being canceled through Saturday, according to the news release. Delta also said it had extended a travel waiver for all customers booked July 19-21.

CNBC reported Sunday that Delta is offering its crew extra pay for flights while the airline recovers from the outage.

United said Sunday it had no further comment after an update on Saturday. It said most of its technology systems have been restored, but that it will still see cancellations and delays this weekend. It also said it had extended a travel waiver for customers through Sunday.

A software update from global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, one of the largest players in the sector, caused the recent system problems not only at airlines, but also at other services such as healthcare and banking.