New Delhi: Central govt has taken a “very stern” view of the air traffic control (ATC) software glitch at IGI Airport over Thursday and Friday that had delayed more than 800 flights and affected over a lakh passengers. The cash-rich Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been directed to immediately upgrade the systems at busy airports so that they can handle the growing air traffic. What has particularly left top officials fuming is that there was no redundancy or backup in place when the “automatic message switching system” (AMSS) used by the airlines to file flights plans failed in Delhi.AAI, which provides ATC services, gets 45.9% and 38.7% revenue share from the joint venture airports at Delhi and Mumbai, respectively. The state-run airport operator’s profit in the financial year 2025 was over Rs 7,230 crore. “It has to pull up its socks and provide the best systems with adequate firewalls,” fumed a top official.The aviation ministry has asked AAI to ensure that the new “air traffic services message handling system” (AMHS) is in place within 90 days as the current AMSS software has seen glitches in the past too. Union aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu and secretary Samir Kumar Sinha were at the Delhi ATC along with a team of officials till 2am on Saturday and they went there again later in the evening. Hugely overworked and stressed air traffic controllers (ATCOs) have for a long time been asking for something as basic as a tea/coffee vending machine in the tower as the canteen shuts down at night while ATC is a 24×7 service. This request was among those conveyed to Sinha and he is learnt to have agreed to the same immediately.AAI has failed to ensure that the ATC upgradation, along with hiring of more controllers, keeps pace with the growth of air traffic in the country, said sources. For years, there have been talks of hiving off air navigation services from AAI to ensure ATC gets the attention it deserves. ATCOs’ Guild of India warned in July that “current systems, especially at major airports like Delhi and Mumbai, have experienced performance degradation… directly impacting operational efficiency and safety margins”. Days after the AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad, it wrote to MPs on July 8 that “automation systems used in air navigation services (be) periodically reviewed and upgraded to meet future demands”.Meanwhile, AMSS was restored late on Friday night and IGIA on Saturday posted on X that “all flight operations are normal”.“The minister has directed that a detailed root-cause analysis be undertaken to prevent the recurrence of such glitches in the future. He also instructed officials to plan for more system advancements, including additional or fallback servers to strengthen ATC operations,” the ministry said late Saturday night.
