From Westjet to Delta, cyberattacks reshape the risk of aviation

From the corridor to the cloud, air travel today depends on technology. Everything, from staffing and luggage to navigation and safety, is guided by digital systems that keep flights operating smoothly and effectively.

This addiction is what makes Airlines primary goals for cyberettacks. A single breach can leak sensitive passenger data and upgrade millions of losses – not to mention the damage to the brand’s confidence and the confidence of travelers.

As the industry becomes more connected, the bets continue to increase.

Westjet was targeted by cyberspace criminals at 14jun. The airline announced that hackers had access to its internal systems, took the mobile app and “some internal systems” offline, forcing the carrier to issue 12 hours of tips, as the police and the transfer of Canada investigated.

While flight work remained unaffected, Westjet warned passengers of “intermittent holidays or errors” when accessing the website or mobile applications to book flights. Westjet has not yet revealed the exact cause of the violation. It has also not confirmed if a ransom demand was involved.

This violation is amid growing concerns across the industry.

The risk of cyber security, such as data violations and ransomware attacks The Allianz Commercial 2025 risk barometer, Long -term concerns such as interruption of businesses. It also ended in front of “Changes in legislation and regulation”, “political risks and violence” and “lack of specialized workforce”.

Financial bets are high. Analysts estimate that an important cyber cyber event can cost over $ 1 million per hour, as delays, customer compensation and brand damage take into account.

The last 12 months have been filled with cyberspace. Beyond Westjet, here is a snapshot of some of the most important attacks.

Japan Airlines, December 2024

During the busy New Year trip period, a Cyberettack in Japan Airlines’s network infrastructure disrupts luggage handling and ticket sales. This led to delays of at least 24 flights and forced a temporary interruption to ticket sales.

Crowdstrike Security Patch, July 2024

Airlines are still recovering after a 19JUL technological interruption connected to Cybersecurity Crowdstrike has been able to over 10,000 worldwide flights, frozen crew and passenger passengers in the summer. The issue arose from a defective update Crowdstrike that crashed millions of Microsoft Windows systems worldwide, hitting airports, check-in and domestic airlines.

United and American Airlines saw major disorders, with United canceling 1,706 flights and US 860s. Closer to the home, Porter Airlines stopped at 19jul, but repeated limited flights by 3pm.

Delta Air Lines was hit harder, canceling 4,675 flights and leaving about 1.3 million passengers that broke in three days, as the crew monitoring system became frozen. Delta is estimated to damage about $ 550 million and In May of this year A government judge in Georgia decided that Delta could keep Crowdstrike responsible.

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, 2024

A ransomware attack attributed to Rhysida’s hacking team disrupts businesses both in the port of Seattle and the sea. Basic systems, including luggage sorting, flight information screens and check-in, were influenced. The attack caused significant delays and required manual treatment to handle over 7,000 bags. The organization chose not to pay the ransom, constant weeks of limited functionality of the system.

Could hackers fly an aircraft?

There has been no case of a remote cyberspace of a commercial jet aircraft. Cyberspace experts and air authorities, including the Federal Aviation Service and the European Union Aviation Security Service, continue to evaluate possible vulnerabilities, but such scenarios remain theoretical.

While full-scale hijackers through the keyboard remain fiction, the thinner forms of interference-such as GPS forgery-are real. These attacks target aircraft signals are based on navigation and raising awareness and not on flight controls themselves.

But the aircraft are designed with multiple layers of safety. Pilots are trained in intersecting conflicting inputs using independent organs, traditional radio collapse and visual references when possible. These redundancies, coupled with crew experience and procedural discipline, serve as safeguards against falsification -related hacks and prevent small abnormalities from escalating serious events.