'In touch with Microsoft; NIC unaffected...' IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Microsoft outage

In response to the widespread outage of Microsoft services which has disrupted flight operations worldwide, leaving passengers stranded and frustrated, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Information and Technology, has responded that the reason for the outage has been identified and updates have been released to resolve the issue. He also said that MEITY has already got in touch with Microsoft and its associates regarding the global outage.

 The technical glitch in Azure has affected major airlines, causing delays and cancellations of flights, with reports of handmade boarding passes being issued to passengers.

At Goa airport, a passenger bound for Delhi said, "My flight was from Goa to Delhi and there was a delay due to server issues. They gave us a boarding pass, made by hand, with our names spelled wrong. I was standing in the line for about two hours (to get the pass)."

Indigo in an advisory said, "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."

"We are all hands on deck and are working relentlessly to restore stability and normalcy. Our digital team is also coordinating closely with Microsoft Azure to resolve these issues swiftly. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this time," the advisory added.

A similar disruption was reported by Akasa Air earlier today. Akasa Air said due to infrastructure issues with the service provider, "some of our online services, including booking, check-in and manage booking services will be temporarily unavailable"

Currently, Akasa is following manual check-in and boarding processes at the airports and hence requested passengers with immediate travel plans to reach the airport early to check in at the counters.

SpiceJet also reported similar issues.

"We're currently facing a technical issue in providing updates on flight disruptions. Our team is actively working to resolve this issue," said SpiceJet in a brief statement on X.

Exact details, including number of flights or passengers affected due to the disruption in services, were not available immediately.

Flyers are advised to reach out to their respective airlines for information on the flights.

Microsoft Azure, or just Azure, is the cloud computing platform developed by Microsoft. It offers management, access, and development of applications and services to individuals, companies, and governments.