Flights were grounded and government offices closed on July 19 after a faulty software update downed Microsoft 365 apps and services across Texas and worldwide.

CrowdStrike, an Austin-based cybersecurity firm serving over half of Fortune 500 companies, said the outage was caused by “a defect found in a single content update for Windows.” The incident was “not a security incident or cyberattack” and the problem is being fixed, the company wrote in a statement.

President Joe Biden had been briefed on the outage and was in contact with CrowdStrike and impacted entities, the White House reported July 19.

What you need to know

“Today, there are delays all over the world—literally. ...We’re working with the airlines to give them what they need to get you to your desired locations,” said Federal Aviation Administration operations manager Jamal Lofton in a video posted on social media. “Delays and cancellations are possible due to this software issue, and these could spill over into tomorrow.”


Temporary ground stops were issued for several airlines, including American, Allegiant, United and Delta, early on July 19.

More than 4,100 U.S. flights were canceled and nearly 9,000 delayed as of 3:20 p.m. July 19, the flight-tracking website FlightAware reported. In Texas, this included:
  • 72 cancellations and 330 delays for flights departing Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport
  • 58 cancellations and 303 delays for flights departing Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport
  • 22 cancellations and 92 delays for flights departing Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
  • 12 cancellations and 43 delays for flights departing San Antonio International Airport
DFW International Airport encouraged customers to check their flight status before heading to the airport and arrive early, due to “significant delays and cancellations throughout the day.”

Bush Intercontinental Airport is “fully operational,” according to a social media post. The airport warned of delays “throughout the day as our airline partners continue to work to reestablish their service operations.”

“While [Austin-Bergstrom International Airport] IT systems remain unaffected, our teams have been working diligently with affected airlines to mitigate the effects of the outage and minimize disruptions to airport operations,” an Austin airport spokesperson said in a statement. “We are seeing delays and cancellations due to the outage and we anticipate further disruptions as airlines work to resume normal operations.”


At the state level, the Texas Department of Public Safety announced all drivers license offices were closed and appointments canceled due to the outage. Teams were working to fix the issue but did not have an estimate on when offices would reopen, DPS said on social media.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas said the state’s power grid was not affected by the outage.

Local impacts

The Harris Health System, which operates hospitals and clinics throughout Harris County, canceled all elective hospital procedures and suspended visitation at two of its hospitals July 19. All health centers were open for clinic appointments as of 12:27 p.m., although some services may be unavailable, according to a social media post.


The city of Austin saw “little to no impact” from the outage, a city spokesperson said. The city’s 911 services were not affected, and the 311 call center was down for roughly three hours overnight.

The Travis County Tax Office, which processes vehicle registrations, property taxes and more, was closed July 19 after Texas Department of Motor Vehicles services shut down due to the outage.

Austin-based CapMetro recorded minor delays in the morning’s rollout of bus and rail services, Community Impact reported.

Learn more


Airlines are offering travel waivers to customers affected by the tech outage.

American Airlines customers who were scheduled to travel through Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and certain other airports on July 19 can rebook without fees, cancel or request a refund, according to a travel alert.

Delta Airlines announced that customers will not have to pay change fees when rebooking flights scheduled for July 19-20. If flights are rebooked for July 25 or earlier, any differences in fares will also be waived, according to a travel alert.

“Unaccompanied minor travel is paused until Sunday, July 21,” a message on Delta’s website read. “Those already booked will not be able to travel. Please do not book new travel for unaccompanied minors.”


United Airlines customers traveling through Houston and certain other airports on July 19-20 can rebook flights for July 25 or earlier to avoid change fees or fare differences, according to a travel alert.

Allegiant Airlines customers should receive emails from the customer care team within the next 48 hours, the airline said on social media.

“If a customer does not take action within 72 hours, their reservation will be automatically canceled and refunded to their original form of payment,” the post read. “If you have a flight this afternoon, we encourage you to check the Allegiant app and your local airport website for the latest updates.”

Travelers can also visit www.flightrights.gov, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s airline customer service hub, for information about the services airlines provide during significant flight disruptions.One more thing

The White House has “offered government support” as CrowdStrike resolves the software issue, according to the Biden administration.

“The White House has been convening agencies to assess impacts to the US government’s operations and entities around the country,” a senior government official said in a statement. “At this time, our understanding is that flight operations have resumed across the country, although some congestion remains, and 911 centers are able to receive and process calls. We are assessing impact to local hospitals, surface transportation systems, and law enforcement closely and will provide further updates as we learn more.”