Airline avoids CrowdStrike chaos because its systems run on Windows 3.1 and Windows 95

One industry that experienced the brunt of the recent CrowdStrike global IT outage, which put millions of Windows systems into a Blue Screen of Death loop, was air travel. In the U.S., nearly every flight was grounded once systems began to fail; however, one major airline was unaffected.

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According to reports, Southwest Airlines systems were untouched by the CrowdStrike error because its various systems run on outdated versions of Windows.

Outdated is putting it mildly. Most of Southwest Airlines' systems run on Windows 3.1 - a version of Microsoft's operating system from 1992. Not only that, but the airline's most advanced system, its staff scheduling system, runs on Windows 95 - so it, too, was unaffected.

While airport systems and computers across other major U.S. airlines, like United, Delta, and American Airlines 'blue screened,' Southwest could still fire up Solitaire, SkiFree, and whatever ancient spreadsheet programs it has installed on its systems. Of course, this also meant that the airline was in total control of all aircraft, staff, and customer data during the outage.

Southwest has been and is still being criticized for running ancient versions of Windows, but it managed to avoid dealing with the CrowdStrike fallout first-hand. If it ain't broke...