A global Microsoft outage has left some travel advisors and agencies without email for a second day, forcing them back to the phones. Fortunately, other than Indigo, worldwide airline and operator bookings are unaffected.
Zeina Gedeon, CEO of Trevello Canada, told Open Jaw her advisors have been communicating old-school style.
"It's a disaster, but it’s in times like these our advisors pick up the phone," she said. "That’s what human expertise in travel is."
We're "Back to the 80s," said Air Canada's Nino Montagnese Friday morning as the operator reverts to phone calls. The "good news is texting and Gmail are still working. Teams messaging seems to be okay as well."
Flight Centre Travel Group’s Amra Durakovic told Open Jaw they have also been picking up the phone.
“Yes, the wider group, including Flight Centre has been affected too … we’re still experiencing some delays, with emails arriving hours late or in batches.
“We’re using alternative channels like Teams and phone calls, to keep urgent communication moving while services recover.”
Several corporate and independent Canadian travel agencies and operators posted online about the outage, including Expedia, Cruise Vacations, Maritime Travel and others, urging people to pick up the phone and check websites, social media and apps for the latest travel info.
"Please be advised that Microsoft is currently experiencing a system-wide outage. As a result, we are unable to send or receive emails at this time," wrote Maritime Travel Summerside.
"We are currently experiencing a Microsoft email outage, which is affecting our ability to access and respond to emails," echoed Expedia Cruises Olds.
"We are currently experiencing a Microsoft email outage, which is affecting our ability to access and respond to emails," echoed Expedia Cruises in Red Deer.
"We are currently experiencing a Microsoft email outage, which is affecting our ability to access and respond to emails," echoed Expedia Cruises in Red Deer.
Elena Quaresima of the Travel Agent Next Door said the outage was a good reminder for travellers.
"This is exactly why I always remind my clients to ALWAYS have a printed copy of their travel documents AND download them directly to their phones before travelling," she wrote.
"Never rely solely on having access to your email or the internet while travelling. A little preparation can save you a lot of unnecessary stress!"
Saskatchewan advisor Karla Haygarth joked that her "emails have taken an unplanned vacation.
"Well, this isn't the kind of travel disruption we had planned for today," she added.
Marlin Travel's Donna Watts apologized for not being able to receive or reply to emails.
"We thought it would only last a couple of hours and it is still ongoing, as many of you may know. Hopefully it is back up tomorrow," she said.
Bonnie Wilcox of Trevello urged customers to call her if needed, as did Karen Desanti of Canadian Traveller Collective.
Airlines and rail
Via Rail posted on social media Thursday afternoon that passengers might not be able to get emails sent from the rail company.
1/ Please note that due to technical issues with Microsoft services, passengers may not be able to receive email communications about their trip.
— VIA Rail Canada (@VIA_Rail) November 12, 2026
“We encourage passengers to use the Via Rail train tracker or to subscribe to SMS notifications through the Via Rail Train Status & Schedules Page to get the most updated information about their train,” it said.
Air Transat also posted a notice at the top of its Contact Us page on its US website, noting that "confirmation emails may be delayed or suspended for an indefinite period" due to the outage. The same notice was not visible on its Canadian website when Open Jaw checked, and the US notification was no longer there at 8 a.m. ET.
Canada's other major airlines, including WestJet, Air Canada, Porter and Flair, have yet to post anything to their social media accounts about the outage affecting communications to advisors and travellers.
Air Canada does use Microsoft products, as does WestJet. The airlines' tour operator arms, including Air Canada Vacations and WestJet Vacations, are also likely experiencing email disruptions, but their booking platforms appear to be working normally.
No airline has posted any kind of notice about its booking systems being affected, and flights are going ahead as scheduled.
Several European news outlets have reported that numerous EU and UK rail carriers, including Avanti West Coast, LNER, Chiltern Railways, and TransPennine Express, have told customers to access their train tickets on their websites or apps.
While flights and transportation are proceeding, visa applications in New Zealand, including tourist visas, are paused.
"Because of the global Microsoft outage Immigration New Zealand has paused the processing of all visa applications. We will update you once our systems are restored," they said.
How it began
The outage began at about 1 p.m. ET Thursday and affected Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and Copilot. An update from Microsoft at 8 a.m. ET, said things are improving, but the network is still unstable.
"We're continuing to see improvements in service availability, with email queues significantly reduced and approaching normal levels. Some users may still experience intermittent access issues or delayed email delivery as recovery continues," the notice said.
"We have no evidence of malicious activity associated with this incident."
