The largest IT system outage in history! CrowdStrike bug impacts global supply chain, air transport may take weeks to recover

CrowdStrike security software bug crashes Microsoft Windows system, leading to the largest IT system interruption in history, impacting the global supply chain. The highly complex aviation system is severely affected, with aviation transportation possibly taking weeks to return to normal.

Niall van de Wouw, Chief Air Cargo Officer at supply chain consulting firm Xeneta, stated in a declaration:

"Planes and cargo are not where they should be, and it will take days or even weeks to fully resolve this issue. It serves as a reminder of how vulnerable our maritime and air supply chains are to IT failures."

Wall Street News mentioned earlier that the Microsoft system service interruption has the most significant impact on the aviation and transportation sectors. Multiple airlines globally have been forced to suspend flights or computer reservation and check-in services, resulting in a large number of stranded passengers. After Microsoft reported the malfunction, global airlines faced disruptions. The three major U.S. carriers—United Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines—issued ground stop orders for all flights. U.S. low-cost carrier Frontier Airlines had to suspend flights for over two hours, while Sun Country Airlines stated that a third-party vendor affected its booking and check-in facilities.

It is estimated that in the largest global air cargo hubs in Europe, Asia, and North America, thousands of flights have been grounded or delayed.

Most of the railways and ports in the United States experienced some interruptions in the early hours of Friday local time, with the situation improving thereafter. Only one major U.S. railway freight company reported issues related to the IT interruption, with Union Pacific confirming that the IT interruption had varying impacts on its entire network.

Two logistics giants warned of possible delivery delays. FedEx issued a statement saying it had initiated an emergency plan but added that "parcel delivery on Friday may experience delays." UPS stated that its computer systems in the U.S. and Europe were affected, but related airlines were still operating effectively, and drivers were on the road delivering goods. "We will continue to work to resolve all issues as quickly as possible; there may be some service delays."

Emily Stausbøll, Senior Maritime Analyst at Xeneta, mentioned that if ships are unable to load and unload containers, the IT interruption could cause severe damage to ports and potentially have a chain effect on the supply chain. If trucks and railway services are unable to load and unload goods at ports, the inland supply chain will also be affected in a chain reaction," Stausbøll said.

Stausbøll cited an example where the Charleston port on the U.S. East Coast was forced to close for two days in May this year due to a software failure, resulting in a 200% increase in congestion at the port.

The supply chain issue caused by the CrowdStrike software comes at a time when the global air cargo industry is facing supply growth unable to meet demand Xeneta pointed out that the supply of air freight has increased, but the year-on-year growth rate is only 3%, leading to shippers facing increased costs due to limited capacity. van de Wouw said, "Shippers are already concerned about air freight capacity, as demand is expected to increase significantly by 2024, mainly due to a substantial increase in the quantity of e-commerce goods exported from China to Europe and the United States."