Overview
- The Airports Authority of India said the Automatic Message Switching System that feeds flight‑plan data to controllers was restored late on November 7, with residual delays clearing as schedules stabilize.
- Flightradar24 and airport advisories indicated more than 800 delays and at least 20 cancellations at IGI on Friday, with average departure holdups of roughly 50–60 minutes at the peak.
- Manual processing of flight plans kept operations safe but slowed throughput, creating congestion in Delhi and knock‑on delays at airports including Mumbai, Jaipur, Lucknow, Chennai and Bengaluru.
- AAI engaged the original equipment manufacturer, deployed extra staff, and brought in Electronics Corporation of India Ltd specialists; senior aviation officials held a review after the issue was detected on November 6.
- Authorities have opened a formal probe into the root cause and system resilience, as controllers’ representatives say they warned months earlier that automation needed upgrades; reports of malware remain unconfirmed.