Microsoft Global Outage Forces Airlines to Ground Flights Across Globe

New Delhi: A global outage affecting Microsoft services has led to widespread disruptions, forcing airlines worldwide to ground flights. The incident, has impacted several major carriers, including Frontier Airlines, Akasa Airlines, SpiceJet and affected over 1400 flights globally. The outage has caused significant issues with flight operations, check-ins, reservations, and bookings, prompting a temporary halt in departures for some airlines worldwide. Flyers have been advised to reach out to their respective airlines for information on the flights.

The outage has caused a ripple effect, impacting various industries, including air travel, as many airlines rely on these systems for flight management, bookings, and communications. Microsoft is actively working to resolve the issue and restore normal service operations.

Meanwhile, airports across the globe has issued travel advisories and statements regarding the technical glitch.

Check LIVE Updates on Airports and Airlines Across the Globe After Microsoft Outage

• At least 25 flights to and fro Kolkata have been cancelled due to the global IT outage till 3 pm. The AAI Authorities in Kolkata have issued a passenger advisory on it as well. "As worldwide systems are impacted due to ongoing IT outage, flight operations are disrupted across the country. This may affect travel & flight schedules. Hence passengers are requested to kindly contact concerned Airlines for updates," the AAI authorities posted on X.
• Nearly 90 per cent of the flights have been disrupted at the Bengaluru Airport. Indigo Airlines said that the situation will continue till midnight and the option to rebook/claim is temporarily unavailable.  
• Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport, a gateway to one of the world’s most visited cities, reported that some airlines were forced to check in passengers manually due to outages to their systems, while in the country's second largest airport of Don Mueang, Air Asia was also checking passengers in manually. Director of Tourism of Thailand, the country’s tourism authority, told state broadcaster Thai PBS the issue was with Navitaire, an e-commerce platform for air travel, and up to six airports had been affected.
• In Germany, flights at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport were halted for several hours from Friday morning due to check-in problems, while some flights were cancelled. An airport spokeswoman said flights resumed after 10 a.m.. Issues were also reported in the busy European hubs of Amsterdam, Zurich and Rome.
• Hyderabad's Rajiv Gandhi International Airport put out an advisory saying that due to the global IT outage, the services of some airlines have been impacted. Airport sources said that as many as 23 flights -- 12 departures and 11 arrivals -- including Indigo's flights to Visakhapatnam, Tirupati, Ahmedabad and Bengaluru have been cancelled.
• In New Zealand, Christchurch International Airport said it is facing IT issues impacting multiple systems, potentially affecting flight arrivals and departures.
• Speaking to a leading media, the United Airlines said, “A third party software outage is impacting computer systems worldwide, including at United. While we work to restore those systems, we are holding all aircraft at their departure airports. Flights already airborne are continuing to their destinations.”
• Vistara has issued a statement saying,"We are experiencing technical challenges across various aspects of our operations due to a global outage at our service provider's end. We are working with them to resolve the issue as quickly as possible."
• Indigo airlines has offered snacks and water in Thiruvananthapuram airport to all the passengers stranded. Reports from inside say the queue is moving and airline is doing a manual check in process.
• Software issues have led to flight delays and diversions at Bengaluru International Airport. Airlines using this global software are encountering problems with passenger check-ins and tracking, resulting in a slower process for passengers.
• Passengers at Delhi Airport were provided with blank boarding cards and required to manually fill in their details. Similarly, baggage tags were printed blank and had to be manually completed.
• Passenger traffic stopped at Dubai airport as a result of the global IT disruption after a malfunction in the CrowdStrike cybersecurity platform.
• In Delhi Airport's Terminal 3, check-in is manual with passengers filling out blank boarding cards and baggage tags. A single person updates gate info on a whiteboard.
• Delhi Airport issues advisory saying, “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.”
• According to an Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) alert, American Airlines, United, and Delta have requested a global ground stop for all flights.
• Due to the massive outage, Hong Kong International Airport has switched to manual check-in procedures.
• Berlin airport is experiencing delays to check-ins due to a technical fault, the operator said in a post informing passengers on social media platform X. 
• Indian low-cost ailrine IndiGo issued a travel advisory saying, “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. Our systems are currently impacted by a Microsoft outage, which is also affecting other companies. During this time booking, check-in, access to your boarding pass, and some flights may be impacted. We appreciate your patience.”
• Spicejet said in a statement, “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, Spicejet said in a 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.”                                                   

Microsoft has identified the issue as originating from problems with Azure services in the Central US region. 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.