In short
An unprecedented IT outage affected airports across the globe last week, potentially one of the biggest ever experienced.
The outage caused more than 150 Jetstar flights to be cancelled, leaving some passengers stranded overseas.
What’s next?
Airport systems are back online and running smoothly, and the majority of Jetstar passengers have been moved or offered compensation.
When Leon Wilson received a text from his partner’s mother on Friday afternoon saying computers were down, he immediately became concerned that his flight from Japan back home to Australia may be affected.
About 10 minutes later, he received a text from Jetstar saying the flight had been cancelled.
The cancelled flight was just one of thousands across the globe that were impacted by what has been described as the largest-ever IT outage in history — which saw an estimated 8.5 million computers disabled.
The outage was caused by a “defect” in an update by cybersecurity company CrowdStrike, one of the largest operators in the industry.
Jetstar was one of the hardest hit by the outage, having to cancel more than 150 flights on Friday night.
However, while airports and airlines have since come back online and are slowly returning to normal, many passengers including Mr Wilson are now left waiting days before being able to return home.
Stuck in a hotel in Osaka
Mr Wilson, a high-school teacher, said after receiving the news of the cancellation, he and his partner made the hour-long trip back from the airport to the city of Osaka where they had to find accommodation on short notice.
He said it was not until about 11am the next morning that they were finally able to get through to a Jetstar employee over the phone who assisted them in re-booking a flight for Tuesday night at the earliest — four days later than expected.
“We’ve been stuck for the last few days in a hotel, so we’re just making the most of it,” Mr Wilson said.
“It’s kind of nice to come back to Osaka … but I kind of have to get home, get back to work and teach the kids.”
Mr Wilson said the feeling of being stuck in a hotel amid global havoc evoked memories of the pandemic.
But despite the inconvenience, he says at least it was a good learning opportunity for his students.
“There’s a lesson in everything, this is a good story to take back to the kids.”
A Jetstar spokesperson told ABC they were working to help passengers.
“We appreciate this has been a really frustrating experience for customers and thank them for their patience and understanding as our teams worked through the impacts of the IT issues to get them on their way as quickly as possible,” the statement read.
Passengers left stranded domestically
Network outages were being recorded at airports across the world before hitting Australia on Friday afternoon.
“Across Europe, at airports in Spain, in Germany, there have been incidents that have been reported at almost all of the airports,” ABC’s Michelle Rimmer in London said.
Back in Australia, airports across the country were similarly plunged into chaos on Friday and Saturday.
In Queensland, droves of passengers were left grappling with hours-long delays, unable to even check in.
“The service desk staff can’t help, computers are down, they don’t know what’s going on, they’re just waiting and seeing,” one passenger said.
Passengers in Sydney were also swept up in the confusion: “We’re not really getting a whole lot of feedback and it’s falling apart all over the place … no hotels for anyone.”
Operations in Australian airports have since returned to normal.
Majority of passengers now moved
The majority of Jetstar passengers impacted by international flight cancellations are believed to have now been moved onto other flights.
Some passengers impacted have also been offered the option of a full refund.
Mr Wilson says Jetstar offered the couple up to $280 a day as compensation for the inconvenience.
“We do have to dig into our own pockets to pay for the hotels, pay for food and getting around,” he said.
“So if they pay that, that would be fantastic.”
Instead of their nine-hour flight home, Mr Wilson is now facing a 15–16-hour indirect route to Sydney, with a five-hour stop-over.
“It’s a bit of a pain, but this is the world we live in I guess — technology rules, right?”
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