Centre Sets 90-Day Deadline For ATC Upgrade After Delhi Airport Glitch

Delhi Airport on Thursday and Friday witnessed massive technical disruption which led to delays in over 800 flights. Reviewing the situation, the Central government directed the Airports Authority to immediately

upgrade the system at busy airports.

The civil aviation ministry has directed the Airports Authority of India (AAI) to install a new Air Traffic Services Message Handling System (AMHS) within the next 90 days, replacing the existing software that has experienced repeated technical issues.

Union aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu and aviation secretary Samir Kumar Sinha visited the Delhi Air Traffic Control (ATC) centre on Friday night and stayed there with a team of senior officials until 2 AM. They returned to the facility again on Saturday evening to review the situation and assess progress on the planned system upgrade.

Overworked and exhausted air traffic controllers (ATCOs) at Delhi’s Air Traffic Control (ATC) have long been asking for basic facilities such as a tea or coffee vending machine in the tower, as the canteen closes at night despite ATC operations running round the clock. Their request was raised during discussions with aviation secretary Samir Kumar Sinha, who is understood to have approved it immediately.

In July, the ATCOs’ Guild of India had warned that “current systems, especially at major airports like Delhi and Mumbai, have experienced performance degradation directly impacting operational efficiency and safety margins.” Following the AI-171 crash in Ahmedabad, the guild wrote to Members of Parliament on 8 July, urging that “automation systems used in air navigation services (be) periodically reviewed and upgraded to meet future demands.”

The technical snag that affected the Air Message Switching System (AMSS) on Friday night was resolved later the same evening. On Saturday, Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) posted on X that “all flight operations are normal.”

Later that night, the civil aviation ministry said the minister had ordered a detailed root-cause analysis to identify the reason behind the glitch and ensure it does not recur.