Microsoft 365 global outage: Frontier Airlines, SpiceJet, Xbox Live face major disruptions

In a major disruption affecting both the aviation and gaming industries, Frontier Airlines and Xbox Live users have been severely impacted by a significant Microsoft outage. The issue has caused widespread operational challenges for Frontier Airlines and left Xbox gamers struggling to access their accounts and games.

Frontier Airlines impact

Frontier Airlines has faced substantial operational disruptions due to the Microsoft outage, which has affected their internal systems. The airline's operations were brought to a standstill for several hours, creating significant delays and inconveniences for travelers. Frontier issued a statement acknowledging the issue: “Our systems are currently impacted by a Microsoft outage, which is also affecting other companies. We appreciate your patience.” The airline is working to resolve the situation and resume normal operations as soon as possible.

SpiceJet, Akasa Air affected

Major domestic airlines SpiceJet and Akasa Air have reported technical challenges affecting online services including booking, check-in and other operations. Both SpiceJet and Akasa Air have opened have activated manual check-in and boarding processes across airports. 

Xbox Live issues

Xbox Live, the online gaming service by Microsoft, is also experiencing major disruptions. Gamers worldwide have reported difficulties accessing their Xbox accounts and playing games. The Xbox Support team has confirmed that they are investigating the issue and working to restore full service. Affected users have taken to social media platforms to share their frustrations and seek updates on when the service will be fully operational again.

The Microsoft outage, which also includes issues with Microsoft 365 and Azure cloud services, has had a ripple effect across various sectors. Frontier Airlines' operational delays highlight the critical dependency of modern businesses on cloud-based services, while Xbox Live users are facing interruptions to their gaming experience.

Microsoft has acknowledged the disruptions and is actively working on fixes to restore services. They have assured users that efforts are underway to resolve the issues, with updates provided on their service status pages.

Microsoft response

Microsoft has provided an update on the widespread service disruptions affecting several of its key platforms. The company’s statement outlines the specific services impacted and provides details on which services have begun to recover.

Microsoft’s latest statement indicates that several services are experiencing significant issues due to the ongoing outage. Affected services include:

• PowerBI: Users may find that the service is currently in read-only mode as Microsoft works to resolve the disruption.
• Microsoft Fabric: Similar to PowerBI, users may experience read-only access while the issue is being addressed.
• Microsoft Teams: Functionality issues are reported, including problems with presence, group chats, and user registration.
• Microsoft 365 Admin Center: Admins might face intermittent access issues, with potential delays in any actions performed.
• Microsoft Purview: Users may encounter delays in event processing.
• Viva Engage: Access to Viva Engage may be unavailable for some users.

Microsoft has noted progress in the recovery of several services:

• Microsoft Defender: Users might intermittently access the Microsoft Defender portal, with delays of up to two hours in raising new detections.
• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint: Users may experience issues with API requests and errors when opening Alerts on the Alerts page.
• Microsoft Intune: Users may face failures with device check-in, syncing, and device enrollment.
• Microsoft OneNote: Issues include delays in syncing notebooks or the inability to open them.
• OneDrive for Business: Users may struggle to access their OneDrive for Business content.
• SharePoint Online: Some users may be unable to access SharePoint Online sites.
• Windows 365: Admins might have difficulties managing existing Cloud PCs or provisioning new ones, while end users in the impacted region may not be able to access their Cloud PCs.