Flight operations were severely affected on Friday after a major technical glitch in the AMSS system at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, due to which more than 200 flights were delayed. Earlier it was told that this has affected Mumbai Airport also, however later Mumbai Airport Authority said that advisory was issued to the passengers by mistake.

AMSS failed at Delhi airport

As soon as the AMSS system crashed at Delhi Airport, the air traffic control had to leave the automatic mode and work manually. Due to this, the data of each flight had to be processed manually. Distance calculations of the planes also had to be done manually and coordination had to be done through voice communication, due to which the operation of flights became much slower than usual.

Delay of more than an hour at Delhi airport

At present, there is an average delay of 62 minutes i.e. more than an hour in the departure of flights at Delhi Airport. According to data from Flightradar24, this delay has increased after a technical glitch in the air traffic control system. Airports Authority of India (AAI) has said that its teams are busy fixing the AMSS (Automatic Message Switching System), which supports ATC data. There are approximately 1,500 flight movements daily at Delhi Airport. Under normal conditions, 60-70 flights take off and land per hour. In such a situation, due to automation failure, the backlog of flights increased rapidly and the delay extended for several hours, the effect of which was seen in the entire network.

Mumbai Airport issued clarification

Mumbai Airport (MIAL) said that the advisory issued earlier was issued by mistake and was a human error. The airport clarified that all flight operations here are running completely normal and smoothly.

What is AMSS system?

AMSS is the system that sends flight plans, weather information, and other technical data between ATC and airlines. Once it fails, controllers have to enter all the data manually, which makes operations extremely slow and significantly affects flight time.

AAI issued advisory

Airport Authority of India issued a statement saying that due to AMSS malfunction at Delhi Airport, flight operations are getting delayed and the controllers are processing all the plans manually. Technical teams are continuously working on restoring the system. Passengers have been advised to stay in touch with their airlines and keep checking updated schedules.

Advisory issued for the convenience of passengers

Authorities have requested passengers to keep checking flight information from their respective airlines, be prepared for possible delays and follow instructions given at the airport. The situation is being monitored in both Delhi and Mumbai so that the system can be normalized as soon as possible.

The country’s longest government shutdown going on in America is impacting air travel. From Friday, flights will be reduced at about 40 major airports including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. This decision has been taken due to shortage of air traffic control staff and to maintain safety.

FAA decides to cut flights by 10%
The FAA said it would reduce air traffic by up to 10% at 40 “high-volume” airports. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that flight capacity at 40 major airports across the country could be reduced by 10% in the coming days. The shutdown has now entered its 37th day and has become America’s longest government shutdown to date.

Political deadlock causes shutdown
This time the main cause of controversy is the expansion of the tax credit scheme related to health insurance. The Democratic Party wants this tax credit to continue beyond 2025, so that millions of Americans can get affordable health insurance. At the same time, the Republican Party, whose leader is Donald Trump, is opposing this expansion. Due to this, the government budget could not be passed and America went into a shutdown situation from October 1.

Lack of air traffic controllers and flights affected
Due to the shutdown, there is a huge shortage of air traffic controllers. There have already been restrictions on flights at New York’s JFK, Newark Liberty and LaGuardia airports due to staff shortage. FAA chief Brian Bedford said many air traffic controllers were falling sick due to stress and fatigue, and had not been paid for a month. Due to this, flights will be reduced in the coming days.

Federal employee status and cutback plans
Approximately 1.4 million federal employees are working without pay or are on forced leave. Many employees are forced to take other jobs or struggle with stress.
The flight reduction plan will be implemented in this way-

• 4% reduction in domestic flights on Friday
• 5% reduction on Saturday
• 6% decrease on Sunday
• Increase by 10% next week

According to CBS News, this reduction will apply to America’s busiest airports – Atlanta, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Chicago O’Hare and Los Angeles International.