Weekend travelers met the first hurdle of their getaways on Friday morning, when thousands of flights across the globe were canceled, due to a tech issue. In this summer of record-low flight cancellations, it's not great.

　　An IT failure early Friday morning causedAmerican Airlines, United and Delta to request the FAA to issue a global ground stop on all flights. Over a thousand flights across the U.S. were canceled, along with thousands more flights and train trips abroad.

　　The issue was a CrowdStrike outage during which the cybersecurity software failed. Microsoft has since fixed the issue, and travel is slowly starting to commence.

　　"Today was not a security or cyber incident. Our customers remain fully protected. We understand the gravity of the situation and are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and disruption. We are working with all impacted customers to ensure that systems are back up and they can deliver the services their customers are counting on," sharedCrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz on X.

　　Passengers are entitled to reimbursements and expenses related to the delays.

　　"In these circumstances, it's crucial for passengers to understand their rights and know their options during disruptions. Although this incident is beyond the control of airlines and airports, passengers still have certain rights under U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations," saidTomasz Pawliszyn, CEO of AirHelp. "The passengers are entitled to assistance from the airline. This can include rebooking on the next available flight and, in some cases, meal vouchers and accommodation if the delay extends overnight. Passengers should retain all boarding passes and receipts for any expenses incurred during the delay, such as food, drink, and accommodation, to facilitate any potential reimbursement claims."

　　The outage also affected Alaska's emergency services, with 911 outages and emergency call centers failing across the state. Ohio also experienced some regional 911 outages, which are now resolved.