Microsoft’s outage has exposed airlines’ digital dependence.
South African Airways (SAA) and low-cost carrier FlySafair have warned customers of service disruptions following a global Microsoft 365 outage affecting their digital platforms and communication systems.
The airlines issued separate notices on X today, advising passengers to use alternative contact channels while the disruption persists.
SAA says the outage has affected certain Microsoft-based systems, potentially disrupting the availability of some of its digital platforms and customer service channels.
“SAA wishes to advise its valued passengers and customers that we are currently experiencing a temporary disruption to certain Microsoft-based systems, due to the Microsoft global outage.”
It urges passengers with immediate travel-related enquiries, booking requirements and other service-related matters to contact its departments directly.
Meanwhile, FlySafair says the outage is disrupting its e-mail services. “Important customer notice: We are currently affected [by] the global Microsoft 365 outage, which is disrupting our e-mail services. As a result, we are temporarily unable to receive or send e-mails,” the airline says in its notice.
FlySafair advises customers to use its call centre on 087 357 0030 or WhatsApp on 072 940 4565 for assistance.
The disruption comes amid wider problems affecting Microsoft’s cloud-based services, including Outlook, Exchange Online and other Microsoft 365 applications.
Microsoft 365 outages can affect organisations that rely on the platform for e-mail, collaboration and other business operations.
Neither airline indicated in its notices that flights had been grounded or that flight schedules had been affected.
SAA says it regrets the inconvenience caused by the temporary disruption, while FlySafair apologised to customers and thanked them for their patience.
The airlines advise customers to continue using the alternative contact channels until further notice.
Following the Microsoft outage, cyber security firm Integrity360 says: “Many organisations have put all their eggs in the Microsoft basket. Is it time to rethink that? Microsoft bundles may make financial sense, but businesses need to weigh that against the cost of business disruption and lost revenue when they are unable to communicate with customers and colleagues.
“It appears that the front-end portal used to manage Microsoft security services and view alerts is also affected. While the security services are still working in the background, customers cannot manage their Microsoft security estate or view alerts through the portal. That is still a concern, particularly for organisations that rely on Microsoft for both their day-to-day operations and cyber security.
“The capacity issue also raises the question of whether we could see more outages in the future. The Al boom is placing huge demand on compute, on top of an already digitalised world. Raw materials are finite, and the scramble for RAM is driving up prices. Is this the tip of the iceberg?
“We’ve seen previous outages at Azure, AWS and CrowdStrike. Outages are something businesses have to live with, but they should look to minimise their exposure to a single vendor where possible.”
Steven Cohen, founder of South African technology business iSteve, says the global Microsoft outage highlights the need for businesses to treat technology dependency as a boardroom risk rather than solely an IT issue.
“An e-mail outage can quickly become a sales problem, a customer-service problem and a cash-flow problem,” says Cohen. “If your staff cannot access the information they need to quote, invoice or respond to customers, the consequences reach well beyond the IT department.”
He says smaller businesses, including medical practices, law firms and accounting firms, may struggle to maintain operations during prolonged disruptions.
Uptime Institute’s Annual Outage Analysis 2026 found that 57% of respondents said their most recent major outage cost more than $100 000, while one in five reported losses exceeding $1 million. These figures relate to broader infrastructure outages, not the current Microsoft incident.
Cohen says businesses should assess their reliance on cloud platforms, ensure critical information remains accessible during outages and regularly test backup and recovery arrangements.
“A backup is only useful if you can access it and restore what you need,” he says. “Businesses need to know who controls their data, how recovery works and which critical activities can continue while services are being restored.”
He cautions that switching technology providers does not automatically eliminate the risk of outages.
“Every provider can experience downtime. A smaller provider must face the same scrutiny on security, hosting, backups and recovery. Greater independence comes from the way your technology is designed and managed.”
