Airlines across the world rushed overnight to fix a major jet software glitch that caused widespread delays just days before the peak holiday travel season. The unexpected system failure affected several large carriers in Europe, Asia, and North America, disrupting flight planning, aircraft data uploads, and dispatch operations.

The glitch, which began late Tuesday, did not affect flight safety, but it stopped crews from loading essential flight information into aircraft systems — a process required before takeoff. As a result, dozens of flights experienced delays, triggering a ripple effect at major international hubs.

By early Wednesday, global airlines had deployed emergency response teams, working with aircraft manufacturers and aviation tech providers to roll out urgent system patches and software resets. Several carriers temporarily activated manual procedures to keep operations moving while engineers raced to stabilize automated systems.

Travel experts warn that even a minor disruption at this time of year can create significant congestion, especially with passenger numbers expected to reach their highest levels since 2019. Airports including Heathrow, JFK, Frankfurt, Dubai, and Singapore Changi reported early-morning queues as airlines worked to restore normal operations.

Airlines say that most systems have now been restored, but scattered delays may continue throughout the day as schedules recover. Passengers are advised to check their flight status, arrive early, and monitor airline alerts as the global travel sector races against time to prevent further disruption ahead of the holiday surge.