Why in news?

Recently, air traffic operations at Delhi’s IGI Airport were disrupted due to a technical failure in the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS). The outage lasted for more than 24 hours before the system was restored.

Following the incident, the Civil Aviation Ministry has reportedly directed the Airports Authority of India to upgrade the system.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• AMSS Failure Disrupted Delhi’s Air Traffic Operations
• AMSS and Air Traffic Management
• Parliamentary Panel Flags Degrading ATC Automation Systems
• India Plans Major Upgrades to Modernise Air Traffic Management

AMSS Failure Disrupted Delhi’s Air Traffic Operations

• The Air Traffic Controllers’ Guild highlighted that the AMSS failure forced controllers to manually manage over 2,500 aircraft movements daily, including 1,500 scheduled flights and 1,000 overflights across Indian airspace.
• Since ATC automation depends on the Flight Data Processing System (FDPS) — which is fed by the AMSS — the outage meant critical data such as flight plans could not be accessed.

AMSS and Air Traffic Management

• AMSS is the core communication backbone for Air Traffic Control (ATC) centres in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
• It automatically receives, stores and forwards all aeronautical messages through Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunications Network (AFTN) and Aeronautical Message Handling System (AMHS) networks.
  • AFTN and AMHS are two systems for transmitting vital aeronautical information, with AMHS being the modern, more advanced successor to AFTN.
• These include:
  • Flight plans
  • Departure and arrival messages
  • Delay and cancellation updates
  • Meteorological data
  • NOTAMs
  • Coordination messages between ATCs and airlines
• It integrates inputs from airlines, ATC units, meteorological offices and AAI stations, converts multiple message formats into a unified one, and routes them appropriately.
• Why the AMSS is Vulnerable: Old Architecture & Integration Gaps
  • Delhi’s AMSS, supplied by a Spanish firm, operates on legacy server architecture with old message-switching software, partly patched but outdated.
  • Key vulnerabilities include:
    • Database/server overload during peak traffic
    • Poor synchronisation between primary and standby systems
    • Integration issues with automation, AIS, and network routers
    • Network faults causing message flow bottlenecks
    • Limited local technical expertise available to maintain the legacy system
• What Triggered the Delhi Breakdown?
• According to officials, Delhi’s failure occurred due to:
  • Synchronisation failure between primary and standby servers
  • Delayed system switchover
  • Corrupted message queues, preventing message retrieval and routing.
• These resulted in the inability to transmit or receive flight plans and NOTAMs, forcing ATCOs into complete manual mode.
• Need for Modernisation
  • Experts emphasise that India urgently needs to migrate to a modern, cloud-supported AMHS/ATS integrated system with robust redundancy, real-time synchronisation and trained technical support.
  • The current setup is inadequate for India’s rapidly growing air traffic load.

Parliamentary Panel Flags Degrading ATC Automation Systems

• The Parliamentary Standing Committee’s 380th Report (August 2025) warns that automation systems at major airports like Delhi and Mumbai are showing serious performance degradation, including system slowness, data processing delays, and outdated functionalities.
• The report notes that Indian ATC systems lack several advanced features available in global systems such as Eurocontrol and the FAA, including:
  • AI-enabled conflict detection
  • Predictive analytics for traffic flow
  • Real-time, seamless data sharing across units and with aircraft
  • Integrated, modern decision-support tools
• This technological gap reduces operational efficiency and restricts airspace capacity.
• Due to missing automation features, Air Traffic Controllers must manually compensate for system weaknesses, adding significant cognitive strain on already overburdened Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs).
• The lack of updated tools increases the risk of human error, potentially jeopardising safety and limiting the effective management of fast-growing air traffic volumes.

India Plans Major Upgrades to Modernise Air Traffic Management

• The Ministry of Civil Aviation has outlined several AAI initiatives to modernise air traffic systems.
• These include installing a new nationwide AMHS to replace outdated AMHS/AMSS platforms and deploying Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) ground stations at 21 airports, with installations completed at 15 additional sites.
• According to an AAI note updated in August 2025, India is planning a major upgrade of its air traffic management system.
• This includes new automation tools, better technology, and a shift from ground-based to satellite-based navigation to match global standards.