A widespread technical glitch has once again disrupted airport check-in systems, causing delays and prompting Air India to issue an advisory urging passengers to check their flight status before heading to the airport. The disruption, which stems from a third-party system outage, is affecting multiple airlines across various airports.
Air India acknowledged the disruption in a statement, noting that their airport teams are working to ensure a smooth check-in experience for passengers. The airline has requested passengers to check their flight status on their website before leaving for the airport and to allow additional time for their journey.
The disruption was detected in the IP-based AMSS system. Following the detection of the technical issue, a review meeting was conducted by the Secretary, MoCA, with Chairman AAI, Member ANS, and other officials, and necessary directions were given to address the issues.
Airlines depend on external vendors for check-in and other core operations and when these shared platforms fail, there are widespread disruptions.
Passengers can check their Air India flight status on the Air India website by providing their flight number, booking reference number, or route details. Passengers can also visit the ixigo website and enter their booking reference number. Alternatively, they can call Air India's customer service line to inquire about their flight status.
Checking the Passenger Name Record (PNR), a 10-digit alphanumeric number allotted against air tickets, allows passengers to track their ticket details, including any schedule changes, cancellations, and gate information.
The glitch led to air traffic controllers manually preparing flight plans using available data, a time-consuming process that resulted in flight delays.
Similar incidents have occurred in the past, highlighting the vulnerability of airline operations to system outages. In November, a prior air traffic control problem at Delhi Airport affected over 150 flights.
Air India operates several popular routes including Delhi to Mumbai, Mumbai to Delhi, and Delhi to Bangalore. The airline also provides 24-hour customer support.
