Civil Aviation Minister K. Rammohan Naidu announced that airline systems at airports began operating normally at 3 a.m. on Saturday, following a major Microsoft outage. He confirmed that flight operations have resumed smoothly. The global IT disruption on Friday had significantly impacted airline systems.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation is monitoring airport and airline operations to address travel adjustments and refunds.
Air India reported that none of its flights were canceled on Saturday due to the outage, though there were delays. An Air India spokesperson stated, “We confirm that none of the Air India flights on 19 July were cancelled on account of the worldwide outage of travel systems, though there were some delays due to the impact of the outage on airport services. Air India’s own, resilient IT infrastructure remained unaffected yesterday and continues to function as normal.”
Despite Microsoft restoring services, many Indian airports, including Mumbai, New Delhi, and Chennai, faced continued technical issues on Saturday. Passengers experienced delays and long lines, with the DigiYatra system for contactless travel still offline.
The outage, starting on July 19, resulted from a technical glitch after an update from CrowdStrike’s Falcon Sensor software caused Microsoft’s Windows system to crash. CrowdStrike has since fixed the issue.
At Delhi’s airport, IndiGo faced long queues due to ongoing system disruptions. A passenger at Indira Gandhi International Airport reported, “I am travelling to London, and my flight is delayed by half an hour at least. There is a long queue outside the airport. Most of the flights are delayed.”
In Mumbai, passengers reported significant disruptions, including flight cancellations and long waits. Affected travelers included Prabakaran, who faced accommodation issues due to a canceled flight, and a Sri Lankan doctor unable to find a flight to Bhubaneswar.
The Microsoft outage, which caused the “Blue Screen of Death” error, disrupted multiple sectors including airlines, banks, and news organizations, heavily affecting the travel industry.