Pratik Das, Pune
Airports across India are still dealing with problems caused by a major Microsoft outage that happened yesterday. Things have improved since the chaos on Friday, but passengers, especially at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), are still experiencing some issues.
At IGI Airport’s Terminal 3, there have been some positive changes today, but not everything is back to normal. Yesterday, broken self-check-in and baggage drop machines caused long lines at Gate No. 5. Today, many passengers can print their boarding passes, but international travelers still face challenges and some are getting manual passes inside the airport.
The Digi Yatra machines at Gates 1-3, meant for smooth entry, are still not working, so manual entries are needed. Display boards showing wait times, flight schedules, and other important information are now functioning after being down yesterday, but airport officials say the system hasn’t fully recovered.
Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport is handling the situation better than Delhi and Bengaluru. Although there are still long lines, operations are smoother today. Two flights to Varanasi and Kochi were canceled this morning, and several international flights were rescheduled. IndiGo canceled nine domestic flights yesterday due to disruptions. While they’ve cautioned about potential cancellations today, they remain optimistic that such issues won’t happen again, as there have been no recent reports of a Microsoft outage. A recent update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike triggered a widespread outage of Microsoft’s Windows systems, affecting various sectors such as banking, airlines, hospitals, and media organizations.
The recent disruption in India’s airline check-in systems led to flight delays and a significant number of cancellations. IndiGo, in particular, had to cancel approximately 200 flights, while other airlines faced delays due to manual check-in procedures.
According to the Reserve Bank of India, approximately ten banks and non-banking financial companies in India encountered minor disruptions, which have largely been resolved. At airports spanning from Chennai to Delhi, passengers grappled with lengthy queues due to the absence of web check-in services. Airlines such as IndiGo, Akasa Air, Vistara, Air India, SpiceJet, and Air India Express acknowledged these challenges on social media.
Passengers received handwritten boarding passes, and manual ticketing and luggage check-in took approximately 30-40 minutes per person, leading to frustration and crowded waiting areas.
Besides Delhi and Mumbai, busy airports like Bengaluru and Chennai were also significantly affected. At Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport, airlines like IndiGo, Akasa, SpiceJet, and Air India Express used manual check-ins to minimize disruption. The technical issue at Bengaluru airport is now fixed, and operations are back to normal, but there is still some congestion from delays the previous day.
Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport experienced 23 flight cancellations, affecting IndiGo flights to cities like Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru. In response to the recent outage, Union Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu assured the public that manual procedures are being used by the ministry and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to manage disruptions.
Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw also acknowledged the cause of the outage and announced updates to resolve the issue. According to the Aviation Ministry, airport systems across the country began operating normally from 3 am this morning. The ministry expects all issues to be resolved by noon today. CrowdStrike clarified that the problem resulted from a defect in a content update for Windows hosts, rather than a security incident or cyberattack.