AI’s check-in software shuts down, 155 flights delayed for more than five hrs

The national carrier’s chairman and managing director (CMD) Ashwani Lohani said that the passenger service system (PSS) software, which looks after check-in, baggage and reservation, did not work from 3.30 am to 8.45 am on Saturday.

During this time period, thousands of Air India passengers were stranded at airports globally as the airline staff was unable to issue a boarding pass to them. Air India’s PSS is owned and managed by Atlanta-based SITA company.

Lohani said that “till 10 am total 85 flights were delayed” because of PSS shutdown. “Because of the 85 flights that have been delayed, a ripple effect will take place throughout the day,” he said, adding that a “few flights will also be cancelled because of this delay”.

Later in the day, the airline’s spokesperson clarified that a total of 155 flights would be delayed for an average duration of two hours till 8.30 pm.

The average number of flights that Air India group, which also includes subsidiaries Alliance Air and Air India Express, flies daily is around 674.

It is mostly the domestic flights that have been affected the most due to the software shutdown, Lohani clarified.

“International departures will not be facing much problems...There will be delay in one or two international flights,” he said.

After the failure of Air India server, a chaotic situation prevailed even at the Chennai airport. Nearly 27 flights were affected by the technical glitch. Around 4 am on Saturday, the Air India server suddenly crashed and passengers were not able to get their boarding passes. The staff of the airlines too were not able to make announcements explaining the crisis or guiding the passengers about the situation. As boarding passes were issued manually, many flights got delayed and left several hours beyond their scheduled departure time. International flights to Colombo, Singapore Paris and domestic services to Delhi, Mumbai, Tiruchy, Coimbatore, Kolkata and Kochi were among those that were affected. In an effort to tide over the unexpected crisis, the airlines that did not have adequate staff called employees after their duty time and even those who were on their leave.