A passenger in India was surprised to receive a hand-scrawled boarding pass amid a global computer system outage affecting airlines. An X post detailing the incident garnered over 5 million views as of Friday morning. The passenger, named Akshay Kothari, shared the experience of receiving an old-school handwritten boarding pass on an unspecified Indigo flight. The photo accompanying the post showed a ticket with the passenger’s name, seat, date, and departure time scribbled in pen reminiscent of a student’s flash cards.
The unusual handwritten boarding pass amused viewers on social media, with one commenter joking about going “back to pen and paper” and another saying that the old-school way is sometimes the best when technology fails. Some users claimed to have also received handwritten boarding passes, with one person mentioning a resulting delay. This incident occurred as a global outage affected various industries after a faulty software update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike crashed and infected computers running Microsoft’s Windows operating system, causing disruptions at airports, TV networks, and banks.
CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz apologized for the impact of the outage on customers, travelers, and others affected but did not provide a clear timeline for when systems would return to normal. The shortage of functioning computer systems due to the global outage led to various businesses, including airlines, resorting to manual processes to serve customers. Despite the challenges faced by businesses during the outage, some found humor in the situation, such as the novelty of receiving handwritten boarding passes instead of the usual digital ones.
The handwritten boarding pass incident highlights the importance of having contingency plans in place for technology failures and disruptions. Many businesses rely heavily on computer systems for their operations, and when these systems fail, it can lead to significant disruptions and delays. The incident also serves as a reminder that sometimes, traditional methods like pen and paper can still be useful when technology fails. As technology continues to evolve, it is essential for businesses to have backup plans in place to ensure continuity of operations in case of unexpected outages or failures.
The situation caused by the computer system outage underscores the interconnectedness of modern society and the reliance on technology for everyday tasks. When a global outage affects various industries simultaneously, it demonstrates the vulnerability of complex systems and the need for robust cybersecurity measures to prevent such incidents. Moving forward, businesses may need to reassess their technology infrastructure and contingency plans to better prepare for similar events in the future. In the meantime, some passengers may find themselves reminiscing about the nostalgia of receiving a handwritten boarding pass in the digital age.
