Southwest Airlines Soars While Others Grounded
Nearly every flight in the U.S. is currently grounded due to a CrowdStrike system update error, causing chaos in the travel industry and even impacting mobile ordering at Starbucks. However, amidst the turmoil, Southwest Airlines stands out as a beacon of reliability. Surprisingly, Southwest remains unaffected by the outage that has disrupted the world, and the reason behind this anomaly is quite unexpected.
Southwest Airlines is still operating smoothly because it runs on Windows 3.1, an operating system that dates back 32 years. While other major airlines like Delta, American, Spirit, and United are facing issues, Southwest, along with UPS and FedEx, have managed to avoid any disruptions. This reliance on outdated technology may seem unconventional, but it appears to be working in Southwest’s favor during this crisis.
Despite criticism in the past for using antiquated systems like Windows 95 and Windows 3.1, Southwest’s decision to stick with these platforms is proving beneficial in the current situation. While it’s clear that an upgrade is long overdue, the airline’s outdated operating system is now acting as a shield against the widespread chaos caused by the CrowdStrike update error.
For travelers relying on airlines other than Southwest, the situation is dire. Airports worldwide are experiencing scheduling system crashes, leading to widespread confusion and frustration among millions of passengers. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is actively working with airlines to address the outage, but the impact is significant.
Microsoft, the company at the center of the CrowdStrike fiasco, has identified and resolved the root cause of the issue. However, it may take some time before normalcy is restored across all systems. Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, has assured customers that they are working diligently to provide technical guidance and support to rectify the situation.
While Microsoft experiences outages regularly, the current crisis is on a different scale, affecting millions of servers running on Windows. Southwest Airlines’ unconventional reliance on outdated technology has inadvertently shielded it from the chaos, highlighting the importance of system reliability in times of crisis.
