Microsoft Outage: Airlines Worst Affected; Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu Ensures Passenger Welfare

Global Microsoft cloud outage affected the civil aviation sector in India. The financial sector in the country was not affected as banks and leading stock exchanges NSE and BSE functioned normally. Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu

New Delhi:The global Microsoft cloud outage affected mainly the civil aviation sector in India as it led to the cancellation of flights in the country. Indian airlines experienced technical and operational disruptions after a widespread global computer outage created chaos at airports as passenger check-ins were delayed with airlines resorting to issuing manual boarding passes.

IndiGo, SpiceJet, and Akasa Air saw disruptions in their online check-in. However,Minister of Civil Aviation, Rammohan Naidu, assures passengers that the Ministry and Airports Authority of India (AAI) are actively managing the situation using manual methods to ensure minimal disruption.

Minister Naidu stated, "I have directed airport authorities and airlines to be compassionate and provide extra seating, water, and food for passengers affected by delays. We understand your concerns and are working tirelessly to ensure your safe and swift travel. Your patience and cooperation are greatly appreciated."

The Ministry of Civil Aviation, in collaboration with AAI, has implemented manual backup systems to maintain operational continuity. Passengers are advised to cooperate with airport staff during this period of disruption. The Ministry is committed to minimising inconvenience and ensuring the well-being of all travellers, an official statement said.

The terminal operations team is working closely with the airlines and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to ensure minimal disruption and inconvenience to passengers. Additionally, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is closely monitoring the situation with airlines to ensure all safety and procedural measures are in place, the statement added.

"Our systems are currently impacted by a Microsoft outage, which is also affecting other companies. During this time booking, check-in, access to your boarding pass, and some flights may be impacted," IndiGo said in an update on X.

"We are all hands-on decks and are working to restore stability and normalcy. Our digital team is also coordinating closely with Microsoft Azure to resolve these issues swiftly," it stated.

Budget carrier Akasa said, "Due to infrastructure issues with our service provider, some of our online services, including booking, check-in and manage booking services will be temporarily unavailable. Currently, we are following manual check-in and boarding processes at the airports." The airline requested its passengers with immediate travel plans to reach the airport early to check in, as a precautionary measure.

SpiceJet also said it is experiencing technical challenges with its service provider, affecting online services including booking, check-in, and managing booking functionalities. "As a result, we have activated manual check-in and boarding processes across airports," it stated.

Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport saw as many as 23 flights -- 12 departures and 11 arrivals -- including Indigo's flights to Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru being cancelled.

"We are closely working with all our stakeholders to minimise the inconvenience to our flyers. You may please get in touch with the airline concerned for updates on your flight information. We thank you for your support and understanding," the airport, run by GMR, said in a post on social media platform X.

In Bengaluru, Indigo, Air India Express, SpiceJet and Akasa issued handwritten boarding passes. Passengers complained of harrowing times following the disruption in flight services and were seen anxiously waiting for their delayed flights. The lounge of the KIA was overcrowded due to the disruption in-flight services.

"A global outage with the Navitaire Departure Control System (NDCS) has been affecting operations of some airlines across their network, including BLR Airport since 10.40 IST on July 19, 2024," a Bangalore International Airport Ltd spokesperson said in a statement.

Indigo, Akasa, and SpiceJet in Terminal-1 and Air India Express in Terminal-2 are among the affected airlines, BIAL said, adding that the Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) and Common Use Self Service (CUSS) systems are also experiencing disruptions.

"In response to this situation, Indigo, Air India Express, SpiceJet and Akasa have taken proactive measures by initiating manual check-ins to ensure minimal disruption to passengers and flight schedules," the spokesperson said.

Passengers also faced issues at the Jaipur Airport. In Tamil Nadu, two flights from Coimbatore to Chennai and IndiGo flights to Bengaluru and Hyderabad were cancelled.

Passengers were stranded at the Coimbatore airport as flights to Delhi and Pune were delayed. The passengers alleged that the airlines did not provide any information about flight cancellations and delays. Passengers were also left in the lurch as the flight was cancelled and they did not know when the next service would start. Many people avoided the flight and went home.

Over 50 flights scheduled to take off from Chennai have been delayed for more than three hours. Due to this, thousands of passengers are suffering at Chennai airport. The officials of Chennai Airport said that the situation will be normalised by midnight tonight.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol told reporters in Mumbai that due to the Microsoft outage operations in sectors like civil aviation, hospitals and banking were affected.

"The DGCA and Ministry of Civil Aviation are monitoring the situation and the services will be normal in some time. Private airlines in our country including Air India and Indigo have been affected, but we have instructed the airlines to share information with the passengers," Mohol said.

Meanwhile, Indian banks and payments systems were unaffected by the Microsoft outage, which has impacted financial services players worldwide. "We are all fine," SBI Chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara told news agency PTI.

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) chief executive Dilip Asbe said the country's payments architecture, including the widely popular Unified Payments Interface, has been unaffected.

HDFC Bank, the biggest among the private sector lenders, also said that it has not faced any impact of the outage. "Our systems are unaffected by the global outage. There is no impact on banking operations," said Ramesh Lakshminarayanan, the group head for information technology at HDFC Bank.

Officials at ICICI Bank and Axis Bank also said that their systems were working fine and showing no impact of the outage. A widespread Microsoft outage disrupted flights, banks, media outlets and companies around the world on Friday. Escalating disruptions continued hours after the technology company said it was gradually fixing an issue affecting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services.

The country's leading stock exchanges NSE and BSE said they are not impacted due to the global outage of Microsoft systems. (With inputs from PTI)