The United States is experiencing a massive tech outage, affecting everything from air travel to mobile ordering at Starbucks. The culprit? A CloudStrike system update error. However, amidst the chaos, one airline stands out: Southwest Airlines. They’re flying high, unaffected by the widespread disruption. The secret? They’re still running on Windows 3.1, an operating system that’s a whopping 32 years old.
While Delta, American, Spirit, Frontier, United, and Allegiant all reported issues to CNN, Southwest boasted smooth operations. Some attribute this to their reliance on Windows 3.1. Major portions of Southwest’s systems reportedly run on Windows 95 and Windows 3.1, a fact that has drawn criticism in recent years. While Southwest should upgrade its systems, in this instance, their outdated technology seems to have saved them from the chaos.
Airports worldwide have experienced crashing scheduling systems, throwing millions of travelers into disarray. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is working with airlines to resolve the outage, though thankfully, the FAA itself remains operational.
Microsoft, at the center of this fiasco with CloudStrike, has confirmed fixing the root cause of the issue. Recovery, however, could take days. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella acknowledged the problem on X, formerly Twitter, stating, “We are aware of this issue and are working closely with CloudStrike and across the industry to provide customers technical guidance and support to safely bring their systems back online.”
This situation underscores the scale of the problem. While Microsoft experiences outages frequently, none have warranted a comment from the CEO. This is a different beast entirely, impacting millions of Windows servers. Southwest seems to have dodged a bullet by being significantly behind the curve on upgrades.
