Airports across India are still reeling from a massive Microsoft outage caused by a faulty update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. While the situation has improved since Friday’s chaos, passengers continue to face significant challenges, particularly at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI).
At IGI Airport Terminal 3, there have been some improvements, but problems persist. Yesterday, the automatic self-drop baggage and check-in machines were non-functional, resulting in long queues outside Gate No. 5. Although many passengers can now print their boarding passes, international travelers are still facing issues with boarding pass generation, with some receiving manual passes inside the airport. The Digi Yatra machines at Gates 1-3 remain non-operational, necessitating manual entries. Display boards showing wait times and flight schedules are now functional, but the overall system has yet to fully recover, according to airport officials.
Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport fared better than Delhi and Bengaluru. Although long queues were reported, operations are smoother today. However, two flights, one to Varanasi and one to Kochi, were canceled this morning, and several international flights were rescheduled. This is an improvement from yesterday, when nine domestic flights were canceled. IndiGo has warned of potential cancellations today but expressed optimism that the disruption will not be repeated.
The global outage, attributed to an update by CrowdStrike, disrupted Microsoft’s Windows systems worldwide, impacting 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 canceled around 200 flights, with hundreds more delayed due to manual check-in procedures significantly slowing the process.
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 minimize disruption. Minister for Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw confirmed that the cause of the outage had been identified and updates 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.
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