Introduction
On the night of September 19, 2025, a cyberattack on Collins Aerospace’s MUSE (Multi-User System Environment) software disrupted check-in, boarding‑pass printing, and baggage‑tag functions at several major European airports, including Brussels, Berlin Brandenburg, and London Heathrow. AP News+1 Because the attack struck the service provider rather than individual airlines or airports, many facilities had to rapidly revert to manual procedures, leading to flight cancellations, diversions, and massive delays. Brussels reported nine cancellations, four diversions, and at least 15 delays. Heathrow and Berlin also experienced significant disruption. AP News+1

Why it matters now

• The attack exposed the fragility of centralized critical service systems: a software provider outage, not an airline’s direct IT failure, brings down entire airport operations.
• It demonstrates cascading risk across geography: multiple countries, multiple airports, affected simultaneously.
• Manual fallback operations are slow, costly, and reduce passenger satisfaction significantly, emphasizing the importance of built-in resilience and redundancy.
• The incident raises questions about how vulnerable travel infrastructure is to cyber threats, at a time when global travel is increasing, and systems are more interlinked than ever.

Call‑out
When one provider’s breach grounds dozens of flights.

Business implications
For airlines and airport operators, this event underscores that operational continuity depends not only on their own systems but also on those of third-party vendors. Check-in and boarding are customer-facing but often outsourced or reliant on external software; when that fails, the knock-on effects are swift: queues, delays, cancellations, cost of compensation, and reputational damage. Airport authorities must re-examine contracts, service level agreements, and disaster recovery plans with their software vendors.

For vendors of critical infrastructure systems, especially those providing centralized or cross-airport services (e.g., boarding systems, baggage handling, kiosks), the stakes are much higher. Dependability, security, and rapid recovery must become competitive advantages. Companies like Collins Aerospace will likely face both regulatory scrutiny and customer pressure to prove better cybersecurity, redundancy, and transparency in incident response.

Consumers (travelers) also feel the impact acutely: disrupted schedules, missed connections, added stress, and possibly additional expense. In aggregate, such events erode trust in travel reliability. For business travelers and time-sensitive logistics (cargo, perishable shipments), these risks can translate directly into financial loss.

Moreover, regulators and governments will likely take note. Travel and transport infrastructure are increasingly seen as critical infrastructure subject to cybersecurity regulation. This could lead to new rules, mandatory standards, and liability exposure for software providers and airports alike. Insurance costs for operations may also rise, as risk from cyber-induced disruption becomes more quantifiable.

Looking ahead
Near‑term (next 3‑6 months): We can expect immediate audits from airport operators and airlines of their dependency on third-party check-in/boarding systems. Pressure will grow for service providers to offer redundant or resilient offline/manual modes. Vendors will likely accelerate their efforts in cybersecurity hardening, penetration testing, incident response planning, and transparency regarding risk exposure. Regulators in Europe may issue new guidance or oversight requirements for travel tech systems.

Long‑term (1‑2 years+): The industry may move toward more distributed, resilient architectures where critical functions are replicated or decentralized. Hybrid systems that enable seamless switching between manual and backup digital services will become the standard. Standards bodies may introduce baseline certification for any technology serving airports. Also, travel tech providers may factor liability and risk more explicitly into their business models, possibly bundling insurance or guarantees of uptime. The economics of delay and disruption may shift, with increased investment in redundancy and fewer cost-cutting compromises that make operations more resilient.

The upshot
The European airport check-in disruption via Collins Aerospace’s software attack is a wake-up call: modern travel infrastructure, though efficient, often lacks the resilience to withstand targeted cyber incidents. In a world where service providers operate across borders and functions, a single point of failure can cascade into widespread operational disruption. For businesses, regulators, vendors, and consumers alike, the lesson is clear: robustness, redundancy, and cybersecurity can no longer be secondary concerns; they are essential infrastructure.

References

• “Cyberattack disrupts check-in systems at major European airports,” AP News, September 20, 2025. AP News
• “Heathrow flights delayed and cancelled as cyber‑attack hits European airports,” The Guardian, September 20, 2025. The Guardian