Rosemary Del Toro, from Dublin, who has advanced pancreatic cancer, looks for her luggage, which contains her medication, after spending the night at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 19, 2024. Del Toro’s flight to Cancun was canceled due to a global technology outage that also affected banks, hospitals, court systems, and businesses worldwide. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Bay Area airport terminals overflowed with people waiting for delayed flights or bumped off canceled ones Friday because of a global technology outage that also affected banks, hospitals, court systems and businesses worldwide.
Thousands of people at San Francisco International Airport, Mineta San Jose International Airport and San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport had to re-book flights after more than 100 between the three airports were canceled.
Thousands of others had to wait for their their regularly scheduled flights.
The outage was caused by a faulty software update issued by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and affected computers running Microsoft Windows.
Rosemary Del Toro, from Dublin, who has advanced pancreatic cancer, looks for her luggage, which contains her medication, after spending the night at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 19, 2024. Del Toro’s flight to Cancun was canceled due to a global technology outage that also affected banks, hospitals, court systems, and businesses worldwide. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Rheannon Hoey, right, from Sacramento, waits for her boyfriend to pick her up after spending the night at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 19, 2024. Hoey’s flight to Australia was canceled due to a global technology outage that affected banks, hospitals, court systems, and businesses worldwide. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
The screens that display flights and luggage updates are still off at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Flights have been canceled due to a global technology outage affecting banks, hospitals, court systems, and businesses worldwide. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Sebastian Barrera, 12, and his grandmother Rubiela Lozano, from Miami, sit on the floor after spending the night at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 19, 2024. After spending six days in Los Angeles and San Francisco, their flight back to Miami was canceled due to a global technology outage that affected banks, hospitals, court systems, and businesses worldwide. The family doesn’t have any money to stay in a hotel, they said. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Rheannon Hoey, from Sacramento, waits for her boyfriend to pick her up after spending the night at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Hoey’s flight to Australia was canceled due to a global technology outage that affected banks, hospitals, court systems, and businesses worldwide. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
A girl sleeps in a chair after many travelers spent the night at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 19, 2024. Flights habe been canceled due to a global technology outage that also affected banks, hospitals, court systems, and businesses worldwide. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
The screens that display flights and luggage updates are still off at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 19, 2024. Flights have been canceled due to a global technology outage affecting banks, hospitals, court systems, and businesses worldwide. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
Travelers look for their luggage among hundreds of them at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 19, 2024. Flights have been canceled due to a global technology outage affecting banks, hospitals, court systems, and businesses worldwide. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
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Rosemary Del Toro, from Dublin, who has advanced pancreatic cancer, looks for her luggage, which contains her medication, after spending the night at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, Calif., on Friday, July 19, 2024. Del Toro’s flight to Cancun was canceled due to a global technology outage that also affected banks, hospitals, court systems, and businesses worldwide. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
At San Francisco, 91 flights were cancelled by 12:30 p.m. and another 227 delayed, according to the flight-tracking company FlightAware. All were domestic flights, according to the company.
“Airport systems are functioning, and airlines report systems are back online,” San Francisco Airport spokesperson Doug Yakel wrote in an email Friday morning. “Residual impact on flights continue.”
The situation appeared to hit United Airlines and Delta Lines flights to and from and the San Francisco airport particularly hard. FlightAware stats showed United had cancelled 61 flights into and out of the airport and delayed another 130. Ten of Delta’s flights had been cancelled and 20 delayed.
The situation was not quite as dire in San Jose or in Oakland. According to FlightAware, 13 flights had been cancelled and 64 delayed in San Jose. Ten flights in and out of Oakland had been canceled and 61 delayed.
Port of Oakland spokesperson Robert Bernardo said the airport had two total cancellations on Friday night.
The tech outage meant that flights throughout all of Friday may be delayed and that others could be canceled, officials said. They urged passengers to check with the airlines on their flight status.
The outage did not have any affect on the cargo shipping operations at the Oakland Seaport, Bernardo said.
