World's biggest glitch at Microsoft Azure cloud affect flight operations globally; Centre in touch with IT giant; Railway minister says trains running smoothly

Microsoft Azure cloud glitch affects flight operations: Airports and airlines across the globe, including Indian cities, got affected on Friday (July 19, 2024) due to a technical glitch in Microsoft's Azure cloud security system.

Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Information & Broadcasting and Electronics & IT, said: "MEITY is in touch with Microsoft and its associates regarding the global outage. The reason for this outage has been identified and updates have been released to resolve the issue. CERT is issuing a technical advisory. NIC network is not affected."

The central government is in touch with Microsoft and MoCA and DGCA are monitoring the situation.

Railway Ministry said in a statement that there was no impact of outage on railway operations and the rail travel process was smooth.

In the technical problem, systems are restarting suddenly. Users of laptops and desktops have also been complaining about it.

BSE spokesperson said that the exchange has not been affected due to the Microsoft issue.

"Our operations are running normal," said the spokesperson.Not just airlines, but many banks and media houses across the world are also facing problems in their operations.

Other than that, airports in Delhi, Mumbai, and Goa also faced technical problems due to the Microsoft technical glitch.

Due to the problem, manual check-in has started at many airports, including Chennai, Hyderabad, Patna, and Goa. 

Apart from airports in India, airports such as Berlin and Sydney were also facing problems in flight operations.

A prominent agency reported that major oil and gas trading desks in London and Singapore have been struggling to execute trades due to cyber outage.

In the United States (USA), 911 services have been affected. Alaska, Arizona, Indiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Ohio are some of the affected places.

Payment systems affected in Australia and the UK. 

British channel Sky News went off air due to the glitch.

Hong Kong airport authority said airlines affected by IT outage have switched to manual check in

ndiGo, Spicejet, Akasa Air, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Turkish Airlines, and United Airlines are some of the prominent airlines whose operations have been affected due to the technical glitch.

Mumbai airport's check-in system got affected due to which passengers were facing problems.

Akasa Air also officially said that the booking air flight operation system is affected.

Delhi airport said in a statement: "Due to the global IT issue, some of the services at the Delhi Airport were temporarily impacted. We are closely working with all our stakeholders to minimise the inconvenience to our flyers. Passengers are requested to be in touch with the airline concerned or the help desk on ground for updated flight information. We regret the inconvenience caused to our passengers."

Due to the global IT issue, some of the services at the Delhi Airport were temporarily impacted.

We are closely working with all our stakeholders to minimise the inconvenience to our flyers.

— Delhi Airport (@DelhiAirport) July 19, 2024

In a statement SpiceJet said; "ImportantUpdate: We're currently facing a technical issue in providing updates on flight disruptions. Our team is actively working to resolve this issue. We regret for any inconvenience caused and will update you once the issue is resolved. Thank you for your patience and co-operation."

#ImportantUpdate: We are currently experiencing technical challenges with our service provider, affecting online services including booking, check-in, and manage booking functionalities. As a result, we have activated manual check-in and boarding processes across airports. We…

— SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) July 19, 2024

IndiGo also issued a statement, which read: "As our systems are impacted by an ongoing issue with Microsoft Azure, we are experiencing high volumes at contact centre. Please contact us only if your travel is within 24 hrs."

As our systems are impacted by an ongoing issue with Microsoft Azure, we are experiencing high volumes at contact centre. Please contact us only if your travel is within 24 hrs.

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) July 19, 2024

#ImportantUpdate: Please refer to the below flight Arrival status for 19th July'24. pic.twitter.com/IsDrZnYKhw

— SpiceJet (@flyspicejet) July 19, 2024

In its statement, Akasa Air said: "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. Currently we are following manual check-in and boarding processes at the airports and hence request passengers with immediate travel plans to reach the airport early to check-in at our counters. We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and want to assure you that our teams are working with our service provider to resolve the same at the earliest."

#TravelUpdate: 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. Currently we are following manual check-in and boarding processes at the airports and hence…

— Akasa Air (@AkasaAir) July 19, 2024