Supply chain stakeholders are still assessing the fallout from a global CrowdStrike cybersecurity software outage, with the air freight industry expected to experience the largest impacts.
Read More: Worldwide Transportation Chaos After Widespread Software Crash
A glitch brought on by a software update for CrowdStrike’s platform reportedly caused Microsoft Windows systems to go down across the globe on July 19, grounding thousands of flights, temporarily shutting down ports, and even affecting banks and hospitals. While most industries have recovered in the days since the outage, supply chain consulting firm Xeneta says that air freight will likely take the longest to bounce back.
“Planes and cargo are not where they are supposed to be, and it will take days or even weeks to fully resolve,” Xeneta chief air freight officer Niall van de Wouw told CNBC.
Van De Wouw points out that air freight capacity has already been strained in recent months, “driven largely by the extraordinary growth in e-commerce goods being exported from China to Europe and the U.S.” In Xeneta’s June air cargo report, the company blamed that growth on a few factors, including Red Sea disruptions that have seen many shippers pivoting to air freight in favor of a lengthy re-route by sea around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. Because of that tight capacity, even the brief day-long delay from the CrowdStrike outage was enough to lead to ripple effects on shipping times, with FedEx and UPS warning customers to expect delays for package deliveries, according to CBS News.
Meanwhile, ports have reported minimal impacts. Both the Ports of Los Angeles and Houston were able to get their systems back online by mid-morning on the day of the outage, while the Port of New York and New Jersey had its terminal up and running again within hours of the CrowdStrike system crash.