All Schiphol flights delayed or canceled over global Windows outage; Fix in the making

Every single flight at Schiphol Airport was delayed or canceled on Friday due to a global Windows outage. The Amsterdam airport was filled to the brim with frustrated travelers trying to start their summer vacation. At 11:45 a.m., the CEO of Crowdstrike, the company whose cybersecurity software was behind the outage, said that they had identified the issue and were deploying a fix.

The outage impacted multiple airlines at Schiphol Airport, making it impossible for them to access their check-in systems, among other things. KLM canceled a large part of its operations on Friday as a result.

"Due to a global computer outage, flights to and from Schiphol are currently delayed or canceled," reads the message displayed on the airport's signboards and repeated over the loudspeakers. "Check the website of your airline for more information."

Friday is the start of summer vacation for schools in the Netherlands’ Noord region, so it was already going to be a busy day at the airport. Schiphol said that the disruption had a “major impact” on flights.

KLM has urged its passengers not to go to Schiphol if their flight has been canceled or seriously delayed. “This means that customers must take delays and cancelations into account,” the Dutch airline said in a statement. “We realize that this causes great inconvenience to our customers, especially now that the summer holidays have just started. KLM is working hard to restore the operation. We advise passengers to keep an eye on the KLM website or app.”

Friday is also very hot, with maximums up to 30 degrees expected in the Netherladns. Firefighters were handing out bottles of water to waiting passengers at the airport.

The situation was “chaotic,’ a NOS reporter said from the scene. “But there are many people out there trying to catch travelers up and ensure everything runs smoothly.”

Windows uses Crowdstrike cybersecurity software on its computers and servers. Crowdstrike has confirmed that a bug in its most recent update is causing a Blue Screen of Death. Windows computers keep restarting.

While trying to fix the issue, Crowdstrike offered a workaround - manually uninstall the latest update. “The workaround is very labor intensive and must be carried out per system,” said the Netherlands Cyber Security Center (NCSC). It has received confirmation from several parties that it works.

The easiest solution is not to install the update. If that has already happened, the NCSC has released step-by-step instructions on reversing the process.

The outage also affected various hospitals. Around noon, the Singeland hospital in Doetinchem and the Scheper hospital in Emmen reported that they had implemented the workaround and were getting their systems back online.