Japan Airlines hit by major cyberattack, leading to massive delays

A cyberattack disrupted Japan Airlines’ operations Tuesday, with Nikkei reportings extensive delays as the carrier works to restore normal service.

Japan Airlines did not immediately respond to Quartz’s request for comment, but it told Nikkei that the issue occurred in the “network equipment that connects our internal and external systems.” The company also said that “problems have occurred in the systems that communicate with external systems.”

According to the flight-tracking website FlightAware, Japan Airlines currently has more than 450 delays, or 56% of its global traffic. However, the company has only canceled five flights so far. In addition to the delays, Japan Airlines was having trouble selling tickets for both domestic and international flights. Those capabilities have since been restored. Japan Airlines says that no customer data was leaked during the cyberattack.

Although the end-of-year holiday season is a major travel period in the United States, due to religious observances like Christmas and Hanukkah, Japan does not have such festivities to the same extent. Instead, the New Year is a major travel holiday, and many domestic customers will be returning home next week.