Microsoft 365 Outage Hits Airlines: SpiceJet Cancels Flights As Cathay Pacific Warns Passengers

Published Nov 13, 2026, 8:22 AM EST A graduate in German, Jake has a passion for history and regional aviation, and enjoys sampling new carriers and aircraft. He has visited OEM facilities as far and wide as Bristol, Toulouse, and Seattle, and recently enjoyed the milestone of flying his 150th sector as a passenger. Based in Norfolk, UK. The week has come to an end in a dramatic fashion as a widespread Microsoft outage is affecting businesses of all shapes and sizes. Education and healthcare are among the most severely hit sectors, but, elsewhere, the world of modern commercial aviation has also not been immune from the consequences. Some airlines have had to cancel flights as a result, while others are limited in their online offerings. For the time being, the impacts of this particular outage on the airline industry do not seem to be as severe or widespread as the 2024 CrowdStrike meltdown. However, in aviation, it is often better to be safe than sorry, and airlines around the world are warning passengers about the potential impacts this time around. Let's take a look at how airlines have been impacted and what they are doing in response. SpiceJet's Cancelations Credit: Herget Josef | Shutterstock According to coverage by Travel Mole, the impacts of the Microsoft outage are being felt most acutely in India, with low-cost carrier SpiceJet being cited as the airline whose operations have been hit most directly. The publication noted that it had to cancel flights from Delhi (DEL) to Leh (IXL), Pune (PNQ), and Mumbai (BOM) as a result. All in all, FlightAware highlights SpiceJet 22 cancelations today. In terms of the destinations mentioned, Mumbai saw two of its three SpiceJet flights on both November 12 and 13 canceled (SG476 and SG603). This was also the case on both days for SG186 and SG939 from Delhi to Pune, while both of Friday's Leh departures (SG121 and SG123) were also axed. According to the BBC, Microsoft is seeing encouraging recovery signs in certain regions, stating that: "Japan remains comparatively more stable, while North America is also improving. However, some users may still experience intermittent issues as recovery actions continue." Impacts On Other Airlines Credit: Kent Raney | Shutterstock Elsewhere in India, Akasa Air has also seen multiple delays and cancelations today, with 44 (19%) and 26 (11%) respectively. Meanwhile, IndiGo's five cancelations barely scratch the surface, with this being the amount that such a large airline might see on a normal day anyway, but delays have quickly added up, with 374 (16%) so far. Both airlines also reported that their email support lines had been hit. Air India is unaffected operationally, but the Indian flag carrier and Star Alliance member has had to reroute some of its email traffic in order to maintain customer communications. Elsewhere in Asia, Cathay Pacific has confirmed that its flight operations are unaffected, but it has issued a warning to its flyers on its website that "some customers using Microsoft services may not receive flight notification emails." Singaporean low-cost carrier Scoot has issued a similar update. It confirmed on Facebook that while "customers may experience longer response times to their enquiries, and some customers may not receive flight notification emails, all flight operations and other services continue to operate as scheduled." North American and European aviation appears to have come away unscathed, with the BBC reporting that both Liverpool (LPL) and Manchester (MAN) airports were operating normally. Not The First Outage Of Its Kind In Recent Years Credit: Robin Guess | Shutterstock Long-time Simple Flying readers may recall that, back in July 2024, the commercial aviation sector was hit by another major IT outage. In that instance, Delta Air Lines filed a lawsuit against CrowdStrike as a result of the disruption, having felt a meaningful financial impact. However, it faced counterclaims from CrowdStrike itself, but, after a two-year probe, it avoided major fines from the United States DOT. A notable outlier amid the 2024 outage was Southwest, whose operations were not affected by the faulty software update due to the fact that it was still using a 32-year-old system. FedEx was able to operate as normal for the same reason, while other major US carriers faced groundings and cancelations. Southwest previously faced criticism for its old system, but it certainly saved the airline on that fateful day.