Has your flight been affected by the global IT outage? Can you claim compensation?
19 July 2024, 18:44
Over 4,000 flights across the globe were cancelled or delayed today, as the world was ground to a halt by a massive IT outage.
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An update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike saw Microsoft devices crash, plunging airports, schools, hospitals and shops into chaos.
With over 140 flights from the UK cancelled today, many holidaymakers will be wondering what their rights are.
Below, we take a look at what travellers can expect to happen in the wake of today’s issues.
Will I be owed compensation if my flight is cancelled?
If your flight is covered by UK law and is cancelled, airlines are required to give you the choice between a refund or an alternative flight.
Moreover, if your flight arrives at its destination more than three hours late, airlines are also required to provide compensation.
However, according to consumer group Which? Holidaymakers are unlikely to get any financial compensation for today’s problems.
This is because a global IT outage will likely be considered extraordinary circumstances.
“If it is not the fault of the airline, compensation is unlikely,” Anita Mendiratta, author and special advisor to the secretary general of UN Tourism, told Euronews Travel.
Will my travel insurance cover my ticket costs?
If your flights have been cancelled entirely, it is unlikely your insurance will cover the price of your tickets.
But if it was delayed by more than 12 hours, you may be able to get your costs covered.
Policies vary, however, so it is best to check with your insurance provider.
But remember to have written evidence of your delay before contacting your insurer.
Will airlines cover the costs of your food and accommodation?
If you are stuck at the airport because of flight cancellations, airlines are required to provide you with assistance until you can reach your destination.
This includes:
- A reasonable amount of food and drink.
- A way for you to communicate.
- Free accommodation if you are required to stay overnight due a delay or cancellation.
- Transport to and from the accommodation.
This comes as experts warned it could take “days” for the world to recover from today’s global IT outage.
Researcher Kevin Beaumont said: "As systems no longer start, impacted systems will need to be started in ‘Safe Mode’, to remove the faulty update.
"This is incredibly time-consuming and will take organisations days to do at scale. Essentially we have one of the world’s highest impact IT incidents caused by a cyber-security vendor."
Meanwhile, CrowdStrike boss George Kurtz warned it might take “some time” before services return to normal.
He told NBC it was the firm's "mission" to make sure every one of its customers recovers from the outage.
But he warned, despite a fix being rolled out, "it could be some time" before services returned to normal.
"We're deeply sorry for the impact that we've caused to customers, to travellers, to anyone affected by this, including our companies," he said.
“Many of the customers are rebooting the system, and it’s coming up, and it’ll be operational because we fixed it on our end,” he said.
“We’re just trying to sort out where the negative interaction was,” he added of the buggy update that affected Windows PCs.
