“NIC network is not affected”: Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw amid Microsoft outage that disrupted flight ops

After Microsoft reported a disruption in certain cloud services, the central government is in touch with Microsoft and its associates regarding the global outage.

“The reason for this outage has been identified and updates have been released to resolve the issue. CERT is issuing a technical advisory. NIC network is not affected,” said Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, in an X post.

National Informatics Centre (NIC) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) is the technology partner of the Government of India. It was established in 1976 with an objective to provide technology-driven solutions to Central and State Governments in various aspects of development.

Meanwhile, all airlines in India on Friday reported that their systems across the network are impacted by an ongoing outage in Microsoft Azure. 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.

“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,” Indigo said in an advisory.

“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.

“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,” Akasa said in an X post.

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. We regret any inconvenience caused and will update you once the issue is resolved. Thank you for your patience and co-operation,” said SpiceJet in a brief statement on X.

SpiceJet said it is ensuring that all its flights scheduled for today will depart.

“We are working closely with airports and relevant authorities to minimize disruptions and ensure the safety and comfort of our passengers. We appreciate your understanding and patience during this time,” SpiceJet added.

Similarly, Air India said, “Our digital systems have been impacted temporarily due to the current Microsoft outage resulting in delays. We regret the inconvenience caused and request our guests to plan their travel accordingly.”

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

Delhi Airport said due to the global IT issue, some of the services at the Airport were temporarily impacted. It said it is closely working with all the stakeholders to minimise the inconvenience to the flyers.

Microsoft meanwhile said they were investigating the issue impacting users’ ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services.

“We’re working on rerouting the impacted traffic to alternate systems to alleviate impact in a more expedient fashion. Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation action,” Microsoft said in its latest update.