Airlines rush to get back on track after global tech disruption

Transport providers, businesses and governments on Saturday are rushing to get all their systems back online after long disruptions following a widespread technology outage.

The biggest continuing effect has been on air travel. Carriers cancelled thousands of flights on Friday and now have many of their planes and crews in the wrong place, while airports facing continued problems with checking in and security.

At the heart of the massive disruption is CrowdStrike, a cybersecurity firm that provides software to scores of companies worldwide. The company says the problem occurred when it deployed a faulty update to computers running Microsoft Windows, noting that the issue behind the outage was not a security incident or cyberattack.

Here's the Latest:

BERLIN — The German government's IT security agency says numerous companies are still struggling with the consequences of a far-reaching technology outage. 

“Many business processes and procedures have been disturbed by the breakdown of computer systems,” the BSI agency said on its website.

But the agency also said Saturday that many impacted areas have returned to normal.

LONDON — Europe's busiest airport, Heathrow, said it is busy but operating normally on Saturday. The airport said in a statement that “all systems are back up and running and passengers are getting on with their journeys smoothly.“

Some 167 flights scheduled to depart from U.K. airports on Friday were cancelled, while 171 flights due to land were axed.

Meanwhile, flights at Berlin Airport were departing on or close to schedule, German news agency dpa reported, citing an airport spokesman.

LONDON — Britain's travel and transport industries are struggling to get back on schedule after the global security outage with airline passengers facing cancellations and delays on the first day of summer holidays for many school pupils.

Gatwick Airport said “a majority” of scheduled flights were expected to take off. Manchester Airport said passengers were being checked in manually and there could be last-minute cancellations.

BERLIN — Eurowings, a budget subsidiary of Lufthansa, said it expected to return to “largely scheduled” flight operations on Saturday.

On Friday, the global IT outage had forced the airline to cancel about 20% of its flights, mostly on domestic routes. Passengers were asked to take trains instead.

DALLAS — Delta Air Lines and its regional affiliates cancelled more than a quarter of their schedule on the East Coast by midafternoon Friday, aviation data provider Cirium said.

More than 1,100 flights for Delta and its affiliates have been cancelled.

PORTLAND, Ore. — Mayor Ted Wheeler declared an emergency Friday after more than half of the city's computer systems were affected by the global Internet outage.

Wheeler said during a news conference that while emergency services calls weren't interrupted, dispatchers were having to manually track 911 calls with pen and paper for a few hours. He said 266 of the city's 487 computer systems were affected.

SAN DIEGO — People seeking to enter the US from both the north and the south found that the border crossings were delayed by the internet outage.

The San Ysidro Port of Entry was gridlocked Friday morning with pedestrians waiting three hours to cross, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

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