New Delhi:

Airports across India are still grappling with issues from yesterday’s massive Microsoft outage. Although the situation has improved significantly since Friday’s chaotic scenes, passengers continue to face challenges, particularly at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI).

At Delhi’s IGI Airport’s Terminal 3, passengers experienced some improvement today, but a few problems persist. Yesterday, the automatic self-drop baggage and check-in machines were non-functional, causing long queues outside Gate No. 5 in Terminal 3. While many passengers can print out their boarding passes today, international travellers still face issues with boarding pass generation, with some being issued manual passes inside the airport.

The Digi Yatra machines at Gates 1-3, which facilitate seamless entry, remain non-operational, necessitating manual entries. Display boards showing wait times, flight schedules, and other crucial information, which were down yesterday, are now functional. However, the overall system has not yet fully recovered, as confirmed by airport officials.

Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport fared better than its counterparts in Delhi and Bengaluru. Although long queues were reported, operations are running more smoothly today. Nonetheless, two flights, one to Varanasi and one to Kochi, were cancelled this morning, and several international flights were rescheduled. This is an improvement from yesterday when nine domestic flights, all operated by IndiGo, were cancelled. IndiGo has warned of potential cancellations today but expressed optimism that yesterday’s disruption will not be repeated as the Microsoft outage was not reported today.

Global Outage

The outage, attributed to an update by global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike, disrupted Microsoft’s Windows systems worldwide, affecting financial institutions, airlines, hospitals, and media channels. In India, this caused airline check-in systems to crash, leading to delays and the cancellation of dozens of flights. IndiGo alone cancelled around 200 flights, with hundreds more delayed as manual check-in procedures significantly slowed the process.

The Indian financial sector experienced minor disruptions at about ten banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), which have largely been resolved, according to the Reserve Bank of India. However, the outage’s impact on airports from Chennai to Delhi was severe, with passengers facing long queues due to unavailable web check-in services and manual ticketing processes.

Airlines such as IndiGo, Akasa Air, Vistara, Air India, SpiceJet, and Air India Express acknowledged the issues via social media. Passengers received handwritten boarding passes, and the manual ticketing and luggage check-in process extended to 30-40 minutes per person, leading to frustration and overcrowded lounges.

Other Airports

Besides Delhi and Mumbai, high-density airports like Bengaluru and Chennai saw the most significant impacts. At Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport, airlines such as IndiGo, Akasa, SpiceJet, and Air India Express initiated manual check-ins to ensure minimal disruption.  The technical glitch has been fully resolved at Bengaluru airport, and operations have returned to normal. However, there is slight congestion due to the residual impact of yesterday’s operational delays. Due to the backlog, it will take a few hours for the crowds to clear.

Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi International Airport experienced cancellations of 23 flights, including IndiGo flights to Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Ahmedabad, and Bengaluru.

Ministerial Assurances

Union Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu assured that the ministry and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) are managing the situation using manual methods to minimise disruption. Minister for Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw confirmed that the cause of the outage had been identified and that updates had been released to resolve the issue. According to the Aviation Ministry, systems at airports across the country started operating normally from 3 am this morning. 

“By noon today, we expect all issues to be resolved,” the ministry said in a statement. 

CrowdStrike confirmed the problem was due to a defect in a content update for Windows hosts and not a security incident or cyberattack.

New Delhi:

A Microsoft outage has crippled air travel across the world and several airports have suspended operations as airlines struggle to provide services such as online booking, web check-ins and flight status updates. Airlines are now checking in passengers manually and issuing handwritten boarding passes.

Back home, key airports such as Delhi and Bengaluru have been affected, leading to long queues and slow check-ins. Here’s what the situation is and how you must prepare if you need to fly today

Airlines Services Hit Hard

All air carriers operating in India have been hit by the Microsoft outage. Air India, Vistara, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa Air are putting out updates to guide passengers and inform them about the situation. Air India said its “digital systems have been impacted temporarily due to the current Microsoft outage, resulting in delays”. IndiGo warned that check-ins “may be slower and queues longer”. The low-cost carrier also said the option to rebook a flight or claim a refund is temporarily unavailable. SpiceJet said it is working closely with authorities to minimise disruptions. Akasa Air said its online services have been affected. Vistara, too, said it is facing technical challenges and is working to fix it at the earliest.

Chaos At Airports

The country’s key airports, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai, are crippled due to the massive tech outage. Delhi airport said some of its services have been impacted and it is working to minimise the inconvenience to fliers. At Bengaluru, 90 per cent of flights operating out of Terminal 1 have been impacted and airlines are using manual methods to check passengers in. “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 Bengaluru airport spokesperson said in a statement. Long queues were seen at major airports as passengers waited long for checking in. As many as 160 flights were affected in Hyderabad airport.

What’s Government Saying

Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu has said the ministry and Airports Authority of India (AAI) are actively managing the situation using manual methods to ensure minimal disruption.

“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 minister said in a statement.

“Passengers are advised to cooperate with airport staff during this period of disruption. We have instructed all airlines and airport authorities to keep passengers informed about their flight status and provide necessary assistance,” he added.

How To Prepare For A Flight Today

Flyers have been advised to get to the airport well in advance, as manual check-ins take more time. They have also been urged to carry dry food items and water in case the wait stretches. Airlines are posting updates on their social media handles to warn passengers about delays. Most importantly, travellers must not panic or get agitated, say officials. It’s a global outage and the residual effect may run into hours.

New Delhi:

With a global Microsoft outage hitting tech systems in airports across the world, air carriers in India are checking in passengers manually.

Most of the country’s air carries, including Vistara, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa Air, have been affected by the global crisis that has crippled multiple sectors, including aviation, supermarkets, emergency response, stock exchanges and the media.

The air carriers have put out statements, informing fliers that many of their online services have been affected and that they are working to fix them at the earliest.

Akshay Kothari, co-founder of US-based firm NotionHQ, shared on X a picture of his “first handwritten boarding pass” before travelling

The Microsoft / CrowdStrike outage has taken down most airports in India. I got my first hand-written boarding pass today pic.twitter.com/xsdnq1Pgjr

— Akshay Kothari (@akothari) July 19, 2024

“The Microsoft/CrowdStrike outage has taken down most airports in India. I got my first hand-written boarding pass today,” he posted on X.

The boarding was like one most of us have never seen, with flight number, seat number and boarding time written by hand.

Millions of Windows users worldwide are experiencing the Blue Screen of Death that is causing computers to shut down or restart. In some cases, computers are restarting repeatedly, affecting services as users lose unsaved data and critical time.

As the systems shut down, a message on the screen says, “Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. We’re just collecting some error info, and then we’ll restart for you.”

Blue Screen errors, also known as black screen errors or STOP code errors, can occur when a critical issue forces Windows to unexpectedly shut down or restart.

New Delhi:

Services across multiple sectors were affected worldwide today due to a technical problem at the US tech giant Microsoft and American cyber security company Crowdstrike.

Millions of Microsoft windows users were experiencing the “Blue Screen of Death” error that caused their computers to shut down or restart.

Microsoft said the preliminary root cause was a “configuration change” in a portion of its Azure backend workloads. It caused interruption between storage and compute resources which resulted in connectivity failures that affected downstream Microsoft 365 services dependent on these connections, the company said.

“Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions,” Microsoft said in a post on X.

Services Affected In India Due To Microsoft Outage

Airlines 

Airlines in India reported that their systems across the network were impacted by the ongoing outage in Microsoft. 

“Our systems across the network are impacted by an ongoing issue with Microsoft Azure, which has resulted in increased wait times at our contact centres and airports. You may experience slower check-ins and longer queues,” Indigo said in an advisory.

Akasa Air and SpiceJet also reported similar disruptions. 

“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,” Akasa Air said in post on X.

“We’re currently facing a technical issue in providing updates on flight disruptions. Our team is actively working to resolve this issue. We regret any inconvenience caused and will update you once the issue is resolved. Thank you for your patience and co-operation,” SpiceJet posted on X.

Microsoft Apps

The users were also unable to access various Microsoft apps and services.

Microsoft 365, Microsoft Team, and Microsoft Azure were among the services that were affected.

New Delhi:

A major tech issue has affected millions of Windows computer systems worldwide, causing a sudden shutdown or restart. Microsoft Inc. said the error is due to a recent CrowdStrike update.

According to Microsoft’s Service Health Status updates, the preliminary root cause is “a configuration change in a portion of our Azure backend workloads (that has) caused interruption between storage and compute resources, and which (has) resulted in connectivity failures…”

These failures, the company said, had affected “downstream (and dependent) Microsoft 365 services”.

CrowdStrike Engineering – a cybersecurity services firm that works with Microsoft – has identified a content deployment related to this issue and reverted those changes.

The company has posted steps for resolution for affected Windows users.

Workaround

What Microsoft Said

In a detailed thread on X, the software services giant said it is “investigating an issue impacting users ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services”.

READ | Windows Systems Restarting, Throwing ‘Blue Screen Of Death’ Errors

“We’re working on rerouting impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact in a more expedient fashion,” Microsoft said, adding, “We’re still observing a positive trend in service availability while we continue to redirect impacted traffic.”

We’re working on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact in a more expedient fashion. More info is posted in the admin center under MO821132 and on https://t.co/Htn4qQEnsp

— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) July 19, 2024

“We still expect users will continue to see gradual relief as we continue to mitigate the issue.”

Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions. More details can be found within the admin center under MO821132 and https://t.co/Htn4qQEnsp

— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) July 19, 2024

Services are seeing “continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions”.

READ | What Microsoft Said After Global Outage Hits Flight, Bank Ops

“We remain committed in treating this event with the highest priority and urgency while we continue to address the lingering impact for the remaining Microsoft 365 apps that are in a degraded state.”

Affected And Recovering Microsoft Services

Microsoft said impacted services may include, but are not limited to, services and software like PowerBI, Fabric, and Teams, as well as the Microsoft 365 admin center.

READ | Flights, Markets, Banks, Stock Exchange: Microsoft Outage Crippling Sectors

It also said “internal telemetry and customer signals” suggest some services had recovered, at least partially. These include Defender, OneNote, OneDrive for Business, and SharePoint Online.

Worldwide Windows Outage Impact

Services, including critical providers like police and government, across the world have been affected.

In India, SpiceJet has said it is experiencing “technical challenges” that have affected online ticket booking and check-in, as well as other functionalities.

” We kindly request passengers with upcoming travel plans to arrive at the airport earlier than usual to complete check-in at our counters,” the airline said on X.

New airline Akasa Air and industry veterans IndiGo have put out similar messages. Flight services at Chennai and Mumbai airports have also begun to be affected, sources have told NDTV.

pic.twitter.com/SI8mcURA1H

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) July 19, 2024

Around the world, Australia’s Virgin Australia said it is “aware of a large-scale IT outage impacting airlines and other businesses” and that it too had been affected.

“We are working to resolve this issue as soon as possible…” the airline said.

There are reports of flights being grounded in Australia and the United States.

Melbourne Airport is experiencing a global technology issue which is impacting check-in procedures for some airlines. Passengers flying with these airlines this afternoon are advised to allow a little extra time to check-in. Please check with your airline for flight updates. pic.twitter.com/pFjOjReMKX

— Melbourne Airport (@Melair) July 19, 2024

In the former country, the airports in Sydney and Melbourne have cited a “global technology issue” impacting its services. Contingency plans have been activated, both airports said.

Reuters, meanwhile, has reported of services being affected at the airport in German capital Berlin, and Spanish airport operators have confirmed an “incident” at their facilities, the BBC reported.

The tech problem has affected banks and financial services also, with reports the London Stock Exchange faces minor problems. The United Kingdom’s Sky News network is off air, the BBC said.

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