New Delhi, – Hundreds of passengers faced severe disruption at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), Delhi, this morning after a major technical fault in the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system caused cascading delays for over 100 flights. The glitch, which began late Thursday, forced air traffic controllers to abandon automated processes and resort to manual procedures, drastically slowing the country’s busiest airport operations.
The Root Cause: AMSS Failure
The chaos has been attributed to a malfunction in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS). The AMSS is a critical component of the ATC infrastructure, responsible for automatically transmitting crucial flight plan data, weather updates, and operational messages between ATC and airlines.
- System Failure: The AMSS crash prevented controllers from automatically receiving flight plans and other necessary data on their screens.
- Manual Processing: To maintain the highest safety standards, controllers had to revert to a significantly slower manual process: physically compiling and coordinating flight plans using available data.
- The Bottleneck: This manual workflow severely reduced the number of flights that could be processed per hour, leading to extensive congestion both on the ground and in the airspace. Flight tracking data indicated that the average departure delay climbed to approximately 50 minutes across the day.
Airlines Issue Urgent Advisories
Major carriers, including IndiGo, Air India, and SpiceJet, immediately issued advisories to their passengers, urging them to check their flight status before heading to the airport.
📢 IndiGo Advisory: “Flight operations at #Delhi Airport are currently experiencing delays due to a technical issue with the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system. As a result, flight operations at Delhi and several northern regions are impacted1.”
The Airports Authority of India (AAI), which manages the ATC services, confirmed the issue and stated that technical teams are working to restore the system. However, no definitive timeline for a return to normal operations has been provided.
Widespread Impact Beyond Delhi
As a key hub for North India and a major international gateway, the disruption at Delhi Airport has had far-reaching consequences:
- Cascading Delays: The delays have spread throughout the domestic network, grounding aircraft and disrupting crew schedules across the country.
- Passenger Frustration: Passengers reported long wait times at boarding gates and inside already-boarded aircraft, with many missing onward connections. The situation underscores the acute dependence of modern aviation on automated digital infrastructure.
Advice for Travelers
If you are flying to or from Delhi (IGIA) in the immediate future:
- Check Status: Do not proceed to the airport without confirming the updated status of your flight directly with your respective airline (e.g., via their website or mobile app).
- Allow Extra Time: Anticipate and prepare for extended wait times for check-in and security, even after the ATC system is fully restored, due to the lingering backlog.
- Contact Airline: For rebooking, cancellation, or compensation inquiries, contact your airline’s customer service channels.
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