CrowdStrike outage sparks global chaos with airline, bank and other disruptions
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(NEW YORK) — IT outages have been reported across the globe as airlines, airports, banks and media companies have suddenly experienced ongoing disruptions that have upended the daily lives of potentially millions of people.
American Airlines, United and Delta have asked the FAA for global ground stop on all flights, according to an alert from the FAA on Friday morning.
However, at approximately 5 a.m. ET, American Airlines issued a statement that they were back up and running as normal.
“Earlier this morning, a technical issue with a vendor impacted multiple carriers, including American. As of 5 a.m. ET, we have been able to safely re-establish our operation. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” the statement read.
The FAA is telling air traffic controllers to tell airborne pilots that airlines are currently experiencing communication issues.
“No one here knows anything, the gate agents said we all know as much as they do,” Scott Sanders told ABC News, saying his flight from SeaTac Airport in Washington was delayed for two hours on the tarmac before passengers were deplaned. “I feel awful for the employees and those that have a sick loved one they need to get to or funerals, thankfully that’s not us.”
Meanwhile, flights in the air will stay in the air, but no American, United or Delta flights have been taking off.
“We’re aware of a technical issue with CrowdStrike that is impacting multiple carriers. American is working with CrowdStrike to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” American Airlines said in a statement obtained by ABC News.
“A third party software outage is impacting computer systems worldwide, including at United,” United Airlines said in a statement on Friday morning. “While we work to restore those systems, we are holding all aircraft at their departure airports. Flights already airborne are continuing to their destinations.”
It is unclear how widespread the issue is but Melbourne Airport in Australia has also said they are “experiencing a global technology issue” which is impacting their check-in procedures.
Global IT outages have also been reported in many countries across the world including Berlin Airport in Germany, the London Stock Exchange, Google Cloud, Microsoft and Gatwick Airport in the United Kingdom.
“We’re investigating an issue impacting users ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services,” Microsoft said in a statement released on social media Friday morning.
Crowdstrike, the U.S. cybersecurity company, has admitted to being responsible for the error and are working to correct it.
“Crowdstrike is aware of reports of crashes on Windows 4 related to the Falcon sensor. Please monitor the status via the tech alert on our customer support portal,” says a message on the Crowdstrike technical help line on Friday morning.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Zunaira Zaki and Helena Skinner contributed to this report.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — Are a 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider and a 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California enough to convince wealthy collectors to shell out millions of dollars at California’s Monterey Car Week?
As thousands descend on Monterey and Carmel for the world’s largest car event, deep-pocketed collectors have pulled back their spending on vintage and classic cars in the past year. Some insiders worry the recent stock market turmoil and murmurs of a potential recession may have convinced interested buyers to instead wait out the uncertainty.
Five auction houses — RM Sotheby’s, Bonhams, Mecum, Broad Arrow and Gooding & Company — have assembled more than 500 vintage and rare cars for serious collectors and enthusiasts to bid on starting Thursday. Some cars could fetch $5 million, or even $30 million. At least 150 may soon be worth seven figures.
“We have all seen a tougher market in 2024. The market is normalizing after pent-up demand during COVID,” Bryon Madsen, president of RM Sotheby’s, told ABC News. “Geo-political events have more influence on the mindsets of buyers [than] any economic indicators. The U.S. election, regardless of who wins, will have an impact.”
RM Sotheby’s is offering 201 cars this year, nearly the same number as 2023. Twenty cars could sell in the $2 million to $5 million range, Madsen said, noting that a 1995 Ferrari F50 “could do well above its estimate” of $4.5 million to $5 million.
“Investing in cars … has proven positive over several decades,” he said. “Automobiles have long been regarded as alternative assets, as well as an inflation hedge. Cash exists with the buyers in this market.”
According to Hagerty Automotive Intelligence, this year’s Monterey auctions could rake in a combined $459 million. Last year the auction receipts totaled $403 million, down from $471 million in 2022.
McKeel Hagerty, the CEO of Hagerty, an automotive enthusiast brand that also owns Broad Arrow, said once-in-a-lifetime consignments, such as the 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider from Gooding & Co., will draw strong demand and bidding. He said he’s optimistic that buyers will spend as usual when the cars roll up to the auction stage.
“The stock market volatility can be correlated with Monterey sales … sometimes these market conditions result in folks pulling back and waiting while sometimes they encourage enthusiasts to deploy capital in nonpecuniary ways,” he told ABC News. “The classic car market is about 10% below its December 2022 peak so it’s already had a healthy reset.”
He added, “Why not own, drive and enjoy a classic if stock market returns are going to be flat? We’re just going to have to wait-and-see a few more days.”
Even the rising cost of buying a hotel room is Monterey and paying hundreds — if not thousands — for a ticket to the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours or The Quail have done little to dissuade enthusiasts from attending these famous events, according to Bring a Trailer founder Randy Nonnenberg.
“I hear people saying, ‘I am coming, I missed it last year,'” he told ABC News. “It’s not a financial decision … people will find a way to come to Pebble. Automakers are using Monterey as the primary place to release cars and that brings a different audience and a different energy. There are way more eyes on Monterey than in the past and bigger visibility leads to bigger auction results.”
Sandra Button, chairman of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, pointed out that automotive fans will make the pilgrimage to Pebble “even in a year when car values are going down.”
She said she tries to make her show “accessible as much as possible” to all enthusiasts and attendance on Sunday could reach 20,000, on par with previous years. Moreover, there will be 215 cars on the show field — including 50 from outside the country — a sign, she said, that investors are returning to Pebble in force.
“We sold out on hotel rooms and VIP tickets,” she told ABC News. “The collectors are getting younger and there’s a generational shift happening. The balance of cars shown is shifting to post war. There is a 125-year span of cars on the field — that has never happened before.”
Eric Minoff, a vice president at Bonhams, said 2024 could still be a banner year for car auctions, even though prices have been flat since January. Last year Bonhams sold a 1967 Ferrari 412P Berlinetta for $30.25 million, the top-selling car that entire week. Minoff said he hopes he can replicate that success this year.
“If the COVID period taught us anything, it’s that there’s value to get away from everywhere else,” he told ABC News. “Cars give you an opportunity to escape everything else that’s going on. There are plenty of folks still eager to buy cars.”
(RALEIGH, N.C.) — When Vice President Kamala Harris unveils her economic policy proposals in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, it will include a proposal to provide up to $25,000 in down payment support for first-time homebuyers, according to a campaign official.
The campaign is vowing that during its first term, the Harris-Walz administration would provide working families who have paid their rent on time for two years and are buying their first home up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance, with more generous support for first-generation homeowners.
In a preview statement obtained by ABC News, the campaign says, “Many Americans work hard at their jobs, save, and pay their rent on time month after month. But they can’t save enough after paying their rent and other bills to save for a down payment — denying them a shot at owning a home and building wealth. As the Harris-Walz plan starts to expand the supply of entry-level homes, they will, during their first term, provide working families who have paid their rent on time for two years and are buying their first home up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance, with more generous support for first-generation homeowners.”
“The Biden-Harris administration proposed providing $25,000 in downpayment assistance for 400,000 first-generation home buyers — or homebuyers whose parents don’t own a home — and a $10,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers. This plan will significantly simplify and expand the reach of down-payment assistance, allowing over 1 million first time-buyers per year – including first-generation home buyers – to get the funds they need to buy a house when they are ready to buy it,” the Harris campaign said.
Prior to Harris’ speech on Friday, an official also released more details on the housing component of Vice President Harris’ lower costs plan to “help end the housing supply shortage” that includes calling for the construction of 3 million new housing units and stopping Wall Street investors from buying homes in bulk.
Officials said she will propose a new $40 billion innovation fund — doubling that of the $20 billion Biden-Harris proposed innovation fund — that will be used for local governments to fund local solutions to build housing and support “innovative” methods of construction financing. It will also allow for certain federal lands to be eligible to be repurposed for new housing developments.
“Harris will work in partnership with workers and the private sector to build the housing the country needs, both to rent and to buy, and take down barriers that stand in the way of building new housing, including at the state and local level. This will make rents and mortgages cheaper,” according to the campaign.
Harris is also proposing two acts, the Preventing the Algorithmic Facilitation of Rental Housing Cartels Act and the Stop Predatory Investing Act to help bring down the cost of rent. These acts aim to take on “corporate and major landlords” to stop them from “jacking” up prices.
(NEW YORK) — They’ve got sleek styling, impressive fuel economy and added power. Hybrids are the hottest vehicles right now and some Americans are struggling to find one.
Jeff Buchanan, vice president of vehicle marketing and communications at Toyota, said there’s still a wait list for the newest Prius model, which launched in November of 2022. He expects a similar situation with the upcoming Camry, which will be sold exclusively as a hybrid powertrain for model year 2025.
“Some people are not ready to switch to electric vehicles,” Buchanan told ABC News. “Hybrids offer flexibility — you don’t have to depend on charging infrastructure but you can still reduce emissions.”
The hybrids on sale today — from sport utility vehicles to six-figure sports cars — are faster, sexier and more efficient. They’ve also lost that nerdy, uncool image from the early 2000s.
“The Prius was always known for great fuel mileage. But the new one has changed everyone’s opinion,” Buchanan said. “The styling is unbelievable, the performance is unbelievable. People say to me, ‘Wow, that’s a really good looking car.'”
If styling won’t convince consumers to buy a hybrid, fuel economy will, he said. Toyota’s popular hybrids — the Prius, Corolla, Highlander, RAV4 and Camry — get anywhere from 40 to 57 combined mpg, according to EPA estimates.
Nearly 1.2 million Americans bought hybrids last year versus 763,000 in 2022, according to Robby Degraff, an analyst at AutoPacific. He said hybrid sales will continue to grow year-over-year as more automakers pull back on their electric vehicle rollouts and add hybrids to their lineups.
“Hybrids are offered in such a greater mix of body styles and segments,” he told ABC News. “Electric vehicles don’t work for a lot of people. Plus, EVs are more expensive than hybrids and gas-powered cars and trucks. Hybrids are the most equitable way to lower your carbon footprint.”
Sports car makers are also turning to hybrid technology to boost performance and acceleration. British marque McLaren currently offers two hybrids for enthusiasts: the Artura coupe and Artura Spider, a convertible that went on sale earlier this year. The Spider, which company execs call the “most fuel-efficient McLaren convertible ever,” produces a combined 691 horsepower from a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 and E-motor powertrain. The E-motor is powered by a battery pack made up of five lithium-ion modules, allowing drivers to get up to 21 miles of EV range.
The E-motor and twin-turbo V6 give the Artura Spider “razor-sharp throttle response,” according to the company, and ridiculously fast acceleration (0-60 mph in 3 seconds). Dani Marcos, a longtime test driver for McLaren, said owners still get that exhilarating rush from the hybrid powertrain.
“The goal was to make the Artura Spider more engaging and enjoyable for customers,” Marcos told ABC News. “It’s comfortable for every day driving but we also preserved McLaren’s [racing] DNA.”
McLaren is not the only automaker to make a hybrid convertible sports car. The Corvette E-Ray’s electric motor adds 60 hp and 125 lb-ft of torque through the front wheels via a 1.9 kWh battery pack, giving the car a combined 655 hp from the motor and naturally aspirated Small Block V8 engine. Moreover, E-Ray owners can start their drives in “Stealth Mode,” an electric drive mode that operates at speeds under 45 mph.
“The first time I floored the E-Ray, it was just so quick,” said Tony Quiroga, editor-in-chief of Car and Driver. “People want sports cars as light as possible and the E-Ray is heavy. But you can’t really notice the weight compared to the regular [Corvette] Stingray.”
He added, “It’s a performance hybrid and not tuned for efficiency. But it’s spectacular and the electric motor fills in the power before the gas engine does.”
Stephanie Valdez Streaty, industry insights director at Cox Automotive, said ongoing education about hybrids, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) and pure battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) will ease Americans’ “journey toward electrification.”
“What’s a mild hybrid? Gas hybrid? PHEV? Consumers still ask that,” she told ABC News. “Some people think you have to charge a gas hybrid.”
According to Cox Automotive data, the U.S. auto market will soon “pass the milestone of 1-in-5 new vehicles sold including a sizable battery pack – adding millions of batteries to our roads each year.”
“I am not surprised at this trend,” Streaty said. “There really are no barriers to hybrids. They’re easier to sell to consumers: ‘This is how you save money on gas.’ And a lot of popular models are under $35,000.”
Honda Motor executive Jessika Laudermilk said the introduction of the 2025 Civic hybrid would likely appeal to a broad range of motorists and could even account for 40% of overall Civic sales.
The Japanese automaker’s hybrid sales have been growing since the second half of 2022, she said, and set an all-time sales record in 2023. The CR-V and Accord hybrids represented over one-quarter of total Honda brand sales last year.
“The CR-V hybrid and Accord hybrid have carried this strong momentum into the first six months of 2024,” Laudermilk told ABC News. “The market for EVs is going to fluctuate in the early stages of this transition and hybrid vehicles play an important role during this period.”
Randy Parker, CEO of Hyundai Motor America, said the company’s sales of hybrid rose 42% between April and June versus 15% for fully electric models.
The appeal of hybrids can help reassure “EV-curious and cautious customers” that electrification is the way to go, he noted.
“We have always understood the EV transformation to have near-term and long-term requirements,” he told ABC News. “That is why we developed a lineup with this diverse choice of drivetrains. We want to meet the customer where they are on their EV transformation journey, including the readiness of their local and regional charging infrastructure.”
He added, “More models are coming, and more buyers will continue to trade in their ICE [internal combustion engine] models for vehicles with appealing, efficient designs and advanced technology.”
For consumers still clinging to their big engines, Degraff said it’s time to give hybrids a serious look.
“Today’s hybrids are not the same hybrids from the early- to mid-2000s,” he said. “You can buy a Hyundai Elantra, for example, that gets almost 60 miles per gallon — that’s how far hybrid technology has come. Hybrids are pretty fantastic vehicles and are only going to get better.”
Buchanan of Toyota said the company “will build cars our customers want.” Right now, that’s gas hybrids.
“Demand used to be more specific to the East and West Coasts, but every dealer would take more hybrids right now,” he said. “It just underscores the overall acceptance of this technology.”
