IT Outages and Disruptions Result in Estimated $1 Billion in Losses – Report | Tech | Business

Patrick Anderson, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Anderson Economic Group, a Michigan-based research firm that specializes in estimating the economic costs of events such as strikes and other business disruptions, estimates Friday’s global internet outage at $1 billion.

His firm estimates that a recent hack of CDK Global, a software company that serves U.S. auto dealerships, cost $1 billion. While that outage lasted much longer, about three weeks, it was limited to a narrow industry.

“This outage affects many more consumers and businesses in ways that range from inconvenience to serious disruption and results in costs they cannot easily recoup,”

Anderson added that the costs to airlines could be particularly high, due to the loss of revenue from canceled flights and the additional labor and fuel costs for the planes that did fly but suffered significant delays.

Remember, there was a global information technology outage on Friday, causing disruptions at airports around the world, including Nigeria’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport. The situation has now been partially restored, allowing international airlines to resume operations.

On Friday, flights to the United States, Europe and some other international destinations were grounded due to the disruptions.

Major airlines including Delta Air and United Airlines are resuming operations after a faulty software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike hit Windows computers worldwide, throwing businesses, airports, banks and healthcare systems into a tailspin that led to an immediate suspension of operations.

Additionally, nearly 300 flights were canceled, both domestic and international, in the U.S., and nearly 7,000 were delayed as a result of the disruptions, according to data tracker FlightAware.

The disruptions extended to European, Middle Eastern and African airlines operating in Nigeria. Air France and KLM experienced significant delays, with flights to Nigeria postponed, while outbound flights also experienced delays.

In Nigeria, it was reported that United Airlines canceled its flight from Lagos to Washington on Friday, as passengers continued to voice criticism.

According to a source at the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, many passengers stayed in hotels based on their bill but few passengers stayed in hotels based on their bill and only a few returned home.


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Michael Achimugu, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, noted that a flight schedule showed that flight arrival and departure times were disrupted by the same outages.

This arrival and departure document showed that Delta Airlines, Air France, Royal Dutch Airlines and Virgin Atlantic all arrived at and departed from Nigeria’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport, albeit with varying delays on Friday and Saturday respectively.

On Friday, the document showed that Delta Airlines departed the airport at 2:59 p.m., with a delay of 2:54 minutes. Air France arrived at 12:57 a.m., with an expected arrival time of 9:40 p.m. The plane took off at 3:45 a.m., with an expected departure time of 11:55 p.m.

Similarly, Royal Dutch Airlines arrived at 9:20 p.m. instead of 8:15 p.m. and departed at 11:28 p.m., while the normal arrival time was 10:25 p.m.

Saturday’s flight schedule also showed that Delta Airlines arrived in Nigeria at 1:51 p.m. instead of its expected arrival time of 10 a.m. and departed at 3:49 p.m. instead of 12:10 p.m., while Virgin Atlantic departed at 10:36 a.m. instead of 9 a.m.

However, the Chairman of the Association of Foreign Airlines and Representatives in Nigeria, Dr. Kingsley Nwokeoma, urged passengers to remain calm as the challenge was not unique to Nigeria.

He added that flights to Nigeria will resume soon as the disruption to air services in the parent countries of some airlines begins to ease.

He said: “There can be IT outages and you know that can happen at any time and the airlines have procedures to deal with these kinds of things and this is not just happening in Nigeria, it is happening globally. So what the airlines need to do is make sure that their passengers are well informed and comfortable and reschedule all flights if necessary.

“This is about network disruption and the places where flights are gradually resuming are developed countries, and Nigeria will soon be back to full aviation operations, we are working seriously on it. You cannot compare Hong Kong with Nigeria, Hong Kong and all our mother countries, and when things get back to normal in those big countries, it will also spread to Nigeria. The airlines are working hard and everyone is trying to make sure that things get back to normal as soon as possible.”

Delta and United Airlines said they were resuming some flights but expected additional delays and cancellations. The airlines also issued travel waivers to affected passengers.

Delta Airlines said on its official X-handle that it is continuing its operational recovery following the global IT outage. The airline also said it was working tirelessly to ensure that affected passengers were well cared for.

The airline said: “Delta teams at airports, on board aircraft, over the phone and in messaging are working tirelessly to care for customers as the airline works to get crew and aircraft back in place following the disruption.

“More than 600 Delta and Delta Connection flights were canceled Saturday, mostly in the morning and early afternoon. More cancellations are expected as some of Delta’s technology recovers from the supplier-caused issue Friday morning.”

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