Southwest Airlines, the fourth largest airline in the United States, was hardly affected by the CrowdStrike — problem due to the use of Windows 3.1. The chaos occurred only on airlines that used current Windows.
Windows 3.1, which was released in 1992, does not receive any updates. So, when CrowdStrike sent a faulty update to all customers, Southwest was not affected. At the same time, other companies were forced to ground their fleets as many of their systems refused to work.
Southwest has often been criticized for its outdated systems, but the old, proven operating system saved its customers from stress and hardship. However, the CrowdStrike issue was not 100% confined to Southwest passengers, as many airports also experienced systemic issues.
In addition to Windows 3.1, Southwest also uses Windows 95 for its staff scheduling system. This is a newer operating system, but it is outdated compared to modern technology. Many of the airline’s employees have complained about it.
However, the global CrowdStrike outage may provide arguments for Southwest not to update their systems. If a system doesn’t get updates, they won’t break it: «if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it». In X, one of the users suggested that the company switch to Windows XP: it is also no longer updated and can run Windows 3.1 programs in compatibility mode. Overall, the situation clearly demonstrates why some companies have been slow to update their hardware and software for decades.
Source: Tom’s Hardware