The ripple effect of a global Microsoft server crash has hit Punjab, with significant disruptions reported at Amritsar and Chandigarh airports. The tech giant’s server troubles have caused widespread issues, affecting banking and airport services across India, the United States, and several other countries.

The turbulence began at 1 pm, leading to substantial delays in flight schedules. The bottleneck left airlines struggling to manage operations smoothly. Passengers, much like a queue at a popular movie hall on a Friday, formed long lines outside the airport terminals. Every flight faced delays ranging from 90 minutes to two hours, turning the terminals into a scene reminiscent of a slow bar service on a busy night.

Manual Boarding Passes: A Throwback Era

With the digital systems down, airlines resorted to the old-fashioned method of issuing handwritten boarding passes. The ground staff of airlines such as Indigo and Air India, grounded by the tech hiccup, could not issue online passes. Instead, they scribbled boarding passes by hand, promising to upload the details online once the servers were back up. This retro approach, akin to serving cocktails without modern mixology tools, added to the passengers’ frustration.

Flight Delays

At Amritsar Airport, the chaos was evident. Flight 6E6288 to Srinagar, scheduled for a 1:10 pm departure, took off at 2:11 pm. The AI169 flight to London, slated for 1:40 pm, finally took off at 2:08 pm. Other flights, like the 2 pm Indigo flight to Delhi, the Vistara flight UK692 to Delhi, and the 4 pm flight 6E478 to Bengaluru, were also delayed by 45 minutes to an hour.  Chandigarh Airport experienced similar turbulence. Flight 6E2195 to Delhi, originally set for 1:30 pm, took off at 2:25 pm. The 2:30 pm Indigo flight to Goa and the 3:10 pm Vistara flight UK658 to Bengaluru awaited manual clearance before they could take off.