Supply chain experts are raising concerns that the recent outage experienced by the cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike, which impacted many Windows-based systems, could lead to significant delays in global supply chains and deliveries.
The outage, which occurred on Friday, July 19, affected various sectors including airports, ports, railways, and retailers worldwide, resulting in IT system failures.
Niall van de Wouw, Chief Air Freight Officer at supply chain consulting firm Xeneta, stated, “Planes and cargo are not where they are supposed to be, and it will take days or even weeks to fully resolve.” He highlighted the vulnerability of supply chains to IT disruptions, with numerous flights grounded or delayed across major air freight hubs in Europe, Asia, and North America.
Van de Wouw also noted that the outage exacerbated existing concerns about air freight capacity, driven by increased demand in 2024, particularly from the growth of e-commerce exports from China to Europe and the US. “Available capacity in the market is already limited, so airlines are going to struggle to move cargo tomorrow that should have been moved today,” he added.
Marco Forgione, Director General at the Chartered Institute of Export & International Trade, emphasized that the disruption could pose further challenges in planning and scheduling for importers, exporters, and consumers globally. He pointed out that the ongoing crisis in the Red Sea had already increased shipping costs, leading to higher demand for air freight as businesses seek alternative routes.
David Jinks, Head of Consumer Research at Parcelhero, indicated that the outage would have long-term effects on airlines. He explained that both dedicated airfreight flights and the cargo holds of passenger aircraft were disrupted, with around 1,000 flights reported cancelled by mid-morning on Friday. Jinks also noted that international ports were impacted, citing Poland’s largest container terminal, the Baltic Hub in Gdansk, which asked companies to stop sending containers due to terminal operation issues.
Jinks drew parallels to the global shortages caused by the Suez Canal blockage in 2021, warning of similar disruptions following the Crowdstrike outage. He also mentioned that delayed and cancelled rail services, including those operated by Avanti West Coast, Great Western Railway, and Southern, would affect freight deliveries.
Retailers experienced issues as well, with supermarkets such as Morrisons and Waitrose, along with pharmacies, reporting payment problems. However, most of these issues were largely resolved by mid-morning on the same day.
Jinks concluded by noting the uncertainty regarding the full extent of disruption to international trade and industry. The Crowdstrike update reportedly caused a BSOD loop on some Windows machines, leading to repeated boot and crash cycles. Crowdstrike has since rolled back the update and deployed a fix, but it may take some time to resolve all system impacts, as IT staff may need to physically access individual machines to address the issue.
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