New Delhi: A technical glitch in check-in systems caused widespread disruptions at several airports across the country on Wednesday. Chaotic scenes were reported at Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International (RGI) Airport, with passengers demanding clarity about their flights.
In a widely circulated video, passengers can be seen surrounding an airline helpdesk at the Hyderabad airport on Wednesday morning. They can be heard raising their voices, holding up tickets and mobile phones as they question staff about the delay.
Airline employees appear overwhelmed as they attempt to pacify the crowd. Despite repeated explanations from the counter staff, passengers continue pressing for answers, leading to heated exchanges.
The issue was first reported in the check-in systems on Tuesday evening. Air India had later said that the matter has been resolved. However, the glitch seems to have continued and is being felt a day later as check-in systems at various airports collapsed.
“Microsoft Windows reports major service outages globally. IT services/ check in systems at airports are impacted,” passengers were told at the Varanasi airport.
While IndiGo, SpiceJet, Akasa Air and Air India Express were reportedly affected, there has been no immediate comments from Microsoft or from the airlines.
“Our on-ground teams are diligently working with all stakeholders to ensure a seamless and efficient passenger experience,” Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) said in a post on X in the morning.
The technical glitch due to a ‘third-party system’ that disrupted check-ins at multiple airports and delayed flights of several airlines was detected on Tuesday.
“The third-party system has been fully restored, and check-in at all airports is functioning normally. All our flights are operating as per schedule. We thank our passengers for their understanding,” Air India had said in a post on X later.
This is the second such disruption due to a technical glitch in recent times. Over 400 domestic and international flights were delayed last month after a technical issue in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS) led to a massive disruption at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi.
The disruption affected major airlines, including Air India, Indigo, and SpiceJet, and led to longer queues and slower operations.
The technical issue was detected in the IP-based AMSS system, following which a review meeting was conducted by the Secretary, MoCA, with Chairman AAI, Member ANS, and other officials, and necessary directions were given to address the issues.
The glitch had led to air traffic controllers manually preparing flight plans using available data, a time-consuming process that resulted in flight delays.
Wednesday’s glitch also forced airline staff to go in for manual check-ins, resulting in delays.
A section of officials have blamed lack of necessary upgradation of systems for such glitches.
