LONDON — has caused major air travel disruptions recently.
Following a fire at an electrical substation (the cause of which is being investigated), over 1,300 flights were grounded, impacting hundreds of thousands of travelers.
Here’s a review of some previous disruptions:
July 2024: Faulty software causes chaos
A problematic software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, distributed to millions of Microsoft users, triggered global technological issues. Airlines were locked out of their reservation systems, resulting in the cancellation of thousands of flights and the delay of tens of thousands more, leading to extensive queues at airports across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
August 2023: UK air traffic control problems
A system failure at Britain’s National Air Traffic Services (NATS) in August 2023 forced staff to process flight plans manually instead of automatically. This resulted in hundreds of flight delays and cancellations during the peak summer travel period. The NATS system had experienced several software-related issues since its launch in 2002.
March 2020: COVID-19 pandemic
In early 2020, the rapid spread of a novel coronavirus led to the shutdown of airports worldwide. Numerous governments closed borders and implemented travel restrictions. By April, global flight numbers had decreased by 80%. The resumption of air travel involved mandatory masks, coronavirus testing, and other measures that increased the difficulty and cost of flying. Global passenger numbers didn’t recover to 2019 levels until 2024.
December 2018: Gatwick drone sightings
Over 140,000 passengers faced delays or were stranded when drone sightings caused the shutdown of London Gatwick, the UK’s second-busiest airport located south of the capital, for parts of three consecutive days before Christmas. A lengthy police investigation was unable to identify the individuals responsible or confirm the authenticity of all the sightings.
May 2017: British Airways IT glitch
A computer malfunction at a British Airways data center led to the cancellation of all flights from Heathrow and Gatwick during a holiday weekend. The airline attributed the issue, which affected approximately 75,000 travelers, to a power supply problem.
August 2016: Delta outage
Delta Air Lines planes globally were grounded due to the failure of an electrical component, leading to a shutdown of the transformer supplying power to the airline’s data center. Delta reported canceling over 2,000 flights and incurring $100 million in lost revenue as a result of the disruption.
April 2010: Iceland’s volcano
The eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano (pronounced ay-yah-FYAH-lah-yer-kuhl) propelled ash and dust into the atmosphere, making its name known worldwide. Airspace across northern Europe was closed for several days, and airlines canceled flights between Europe and North America due to concerns that the ash could damage jet engines. Over 100,000 flights were canceled, affecting millions of passengers and resulting in an estimated $3 billion in costs.
September 2001: 9/11
U.S. airspace was closed to commercial flights on Sept. 11, 2001, after hijackers crashed planes into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania. Thousands of planes were grounded, and flights en route to the U.S. were diverted to Canada and Mexico. Flights gradually resumed two days later, but air travel was permanently changed, with passengers experiencing stricter security measures, more thorough screenings, and longer wait times.
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