Delays and disruption was the order of the day as the global IT outage slowed down check-in processes at airports across India. IndiGo cancelled nearly 200 flights which is around 10 per cent of its daily movements on Friday while departures across major airports of all airlines were delayed by an around 30-60 minutes. The outage impacted departure control systems at airports which control check-in and baggage handling. Since major airports have common use facilities for airlines the impact was felt across the board.

Chaos in Delhi

"Absolute chaos at Delhi T3. All airlines impacted. Scanners not working, server down, Digiyatra not working," Shiv Shivakumar, operating partner at Advent International wrote in a LinkedIn post. Airlines resorted to manual check-in process to keep the schedules running. By afternoon, systems were up and running but delays continued as a result of cascading impact. By 7 pm, Akasa Air and IndiGo said systems were not fully operational. 

War room

In a statement, IndiGo said it activated ‘war rooms’ at four metro airports to manage operations. The airline staff also prioritised passengers who had flights to board in the next 120 minutes , ensuring that flights operate with minimal delays. "The airline is closely monitoring the situation and any further decisions regarding flight operations will be made based on updates from its cloud service provider. A dedicated team has been deployed to address these technical challenges and minimise disruptions," IndiGo said. The Civil Aviation Ministry also swung into action with Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu directing airlines and airports to provide extra seating, water and food for those impacted by delays. "The Ministry and Airport Authority of India are closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with Microsoft for a swift resolution," the ministry said in a statement.

Related Topics