Global Computer Outage Disrupts Indian Airlines Operations

Indian airlines faced substantial disruptions due to a global computer outage that affected online check-ins and necessitated manual boarding processes. Despite the chaos, financial institutions remained unaffected. The Union Civil Aviation and IT Ministers assured efforts to restore normalcy, as Microsoft worked on resolving the issue.

Indian airlines experienced significant disruptions following a global computer outage, causing chaos at airports with delayed check-ins and manual boarding passes becoming the norm.

IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Akasa Air were among the airlines impacted. However, stock exchanges and financial institutions, including banks, remained unaffected.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu assured that his ministry and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) are managing the situation using manual methods to minimize disruption.

”We have instructed all airlines and airport authorities to keep passengers informed about their flight status and provide necessary assistance,” Naidu said.

IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated his ministry was in contact with Microsoft, adding that the NIC network is unaffected. The reason for the outage has been identified and updates are being released to resolve the issue.

CERT-In has issued an advisory on the Microsoft outage, which they rated as “critical.”

IndiGo announced that the Microsoft outage impacted its systems, causing disruptions in booking, check-ins, and flights.

Other airlines, including Akasa and SpiceJet, activated manual check-in processes at airports, requesting passengers to arrive early.

Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport saw several flight cancellations, including those of IndiGo to multiple destinations.

In Bengaluru, airlines issued handwritten boarding passes as passengers endured long waits due to flight delays.

A Bangalore International Airport Ltd spokesperson confirmed the outages and stated that manual check-ins are in place to minimize passenger disruption.

Conversely, India's leading stock exchanges, NSE and BSE, reported normal operations, unaffected by the global outage.