MSP Airport flights, Metro Transit and some government agencies affected by global Microsoft outage

MINNEAPOLIS — The global Microsoft outage is causing mass flight cancellations and delays nationwide Friday, including at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The outage is being caused by a CrowdStrike software glitch.

Everything from airlines, banks and TV stations are impacted, along with health and emergency response systems, and anyone who relies on Microsoft's 365 apps.

Officials with the Metropolitan Airports Commission say the outage is happening during the busiest summer MSP has seen in five years.

As of noon, more than 160 flights have been canceled and more than 230 have been delayed, while thousands of flights have been canceled and delayed across the country. Not every airline at MSP was impacted, and things were slowly improving by Friday afternoon.

Jeff Lea with the Metropolitan Airports Commission urges customers to contact their airline directly for the latest updates before heading to MSP.    

"Whether 1-800 number, their app or their website. Those modes will have the latest information," he said. "We don't want people to get congested on our roadways, parking ramps, certainly (inside the terminals). A lot of these folks have flights out this morning, they may still see cancellations, delays as they get through the checkpoint, we don't know. If you can save yourself time and handle that or get the latest information from home, that would be much easier for everybody."  

Lea also wants travelers to be prepared for a "domino effect," similar to what occurs during winter storm cancelations.

"I think the key message is this is likely going to domino into the weekend as airlines who have canceled flights may have to rebook passengers through the weekend," Lea said.

Travelers grapple with the unknown

Mia Vo, along with 12 family members, was hoping to catch a Delta flight to Florida for a vacation. But instead of waiting to board, they were waiting in boredom.

"It's canceled. It's canceled. So, there's no more flight for us anymore. We might have to wait and see to talk to the agent and stuff," Vo said.

Matthew Buhaug's family was trying to get to Seattle.

"Hopefully we can make it out today or even tomorrow, and not lose the entire weekend we've got planned," Buhaug said.

Miles Kipper's Delta trip was supposed to land him in Austria after a couple of connecting flights. But it became just one of dozens of flights that never left the ground.

"I'm trying to get rebooked and see what happens," Kipper said.

Online systems at Metro Transit affected

Metro Transit says it experienced disruptions to the online systems, such as trip planning tools and the web store. The buses and trains are operating as normal. 

Technical outage impacts state, municipal services

Several local sheriff departments, including Hennepin and Stearns counties, are facing administrative issues but 911 services are still operating as normal. 

Several state agencies — including Minnesota IT Services, the Department of Natural Resources' Info and License centers and MNsure — are also affected. Anoka, Ramsey and White Bear Lake have also reported licensing-related disruptions.  

Expect delays at Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services centers, although officials say the new DVS Now kiosks inside many Cub Foods locations are still functional.

WCCO has also been experiencing technical difficulties amid the outage caused by a CrowdStrike software glitch and are working to rectify the issue.

This is a developing story. Stay with WCCO.com for more.

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• Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport
• Internet Outage
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