Jetstar cancels flight due to technical failure, urgently rebooks passengers

Air New Zealand flights to Rarotonga were not affected by the global technical failure which disrupted flights and other services worldwide, while Jetstar cancelled some flights but was working to rebook passengers.

The outage was allegedly caused by a software update sent from Austin, Texas, on Thursday to global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, causing chaos and disruption to flights, hospital services and computers.

Yesterday morning, Jetstar Airways flight JQ141/142 (Sydney-Rarotonga-Sydney) was cancelled due to a global network system failure.

In a statement yesterday morning, Jetstar said its IT systems were back up and running and most flights were operating as planned.

Jetstar apologised to customers whose flights were cancelled between Friday, July 19 and Saturday, July 20, and said a global software issue affected several of its systems, including the one they use to communicate with customers.

“Our IT systems are now operational again and all customers whose flights were cancelled have been contacted and offered alternative flight options.”

An Air New Zealand media official confirmed: “We have not experienced any disruption to our Rarotonga flights.”

Air New Zealand chief customer and sales officer Leanne Geraghty said in a statement they would continue to monitor the situation closely over the weekend and update customers as necessary.