Man shares ‘hand-written boarding pass’ amid global Microsoft outage
Man shares 'hand-written boarding pass' amid global Microsoft outage
A viral social media post highlights the aviation industry’s heavy reliance on digital technology as a global Microsoft outage disrupts Indian airports.
In a surprising turn of events, a massive global Microsoft outage on July 19, 2024, disrupted India’s aviation industry, causing chaos at major airports nationwide. The outage affected critical systems such as check-in counters and flight management software. This led to widespread flight delays, cancellations and a return to manual processes reminiscent of the pre-digital era.
The Microsoft / CrowdStrike outage has taken down most airports in India. I got my first hand-written boarding pass today 😅 pic.twitter.com/xsdnq1Pgjr
— Akshay Kothari (@akothari) July 19, 2024
Amid this turmoil, a netizen’s post featuring a handwritten boarding pass has gone viral, starkly illustrating the extent of modern aviation’s dependence on technology.
The unprecedented disruption left passengers stranded, facing hours-long queues and significant uncertainty about their travel plans. Airlines scrambled to implement contingency plans, resorting to manual methods to maintain operations. A man shared his handwritten boarding pass on social media platform X, with a humorous caption: “The Microsoft / CrowdStrike outage has taken down most airports in India. I got my first hand-written boarding pass today.”
Netizens in the comments section flooded, sharing witty comments and memes over the massive Microsoft outage.
One user says, ‘Wow back to pen paper.’
Another user says, ‘Damn I was there. Delhi to Kochi, T2. Chaos and madness.’
One more user wrote, ‘Sometimes, the old-school way is still the best way when technology lets us down.
As the world increasingly relies on digital infrastructure, this incident serves as a stark reminder for the aviation industry. It underscores the urgent need for robust backup systems and disaster recovery plans to mitigate the impact of such catastrophic outages. While Microsoft works diligently to restore its services, the repercussions of this incident are expected to be felt for days.
The viral social media post not only captures the frustration and inconvenience faced by travellers but also highlights the vulnerability of modern systems to technological failures.
