A widespread Microsoft service outage that began in North America on November 12 has spread to the Asia-Pacific region, disrupting digital services across several countries, including India. The disruption has affected Microsoft 365 services, particularly Exchange Online, which supports email, calendars and other communication tools. Several airlines in India, such as Air India, IndiGo, and Akasa Air, have issued passenger advisories following the disruptions in their email-based customer support services.
The outage has also impacted the government systems in Australia, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines and New Zealand. Microsoft has been working to restore the affected servers, initially reporting that some server capacity had become unexpectedly unavailable. The company said users could experience a gradual recovery as capacity was restored. According to Microsoft’s service health notice, features dependent on Exchange Online were among the affected services. Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has confirmed the disruption was not connected to a cyber attack, according to Microsoft.
Air India has announced that the has not affected its flight operations. However, the airline said it was “actively tracking the situation” and has temporarily switched email services to ensure that customer emails can reach its support teams.
Air India confirmed in a post on X that its communication channels, voice support, AI.g, social media and customer notifications were normal. The airline also assured passengers that it would continue responding to emails within its usual 24-hour timeline.
IndiGo has notified its passengers that the global is disrupting its email-based customer support services. The airline warned that it might not be able to receive customer emails during the disruption.
In its advisory on X, IndiGo said other customer support channels remained operational. The passengers who are in need of urgent assistance have been requested to reach out to its AI-powered virtual assistant called 6E Skai via the airline’s official website and app.
Akasa Air has also stated that its email support service is impacted by the Microsoft disruption.
Akasa Air had issued a travel advisory on X to alert its passengers to contact Akasa Care Centre at +91 9606 112131 or via social media for immediate help.
Delhi Airport has also issued a passenger advisory urging people to verify their flight tickets before boarding to avoid hassles.
Reuters reported on November 12 that the had caused Outlook, Teams and other Microsoft 365 services to run “intermittently” for over five hours. The number of Outlook issues rose to 138,058 around 1 PM ET, according to data from Downdetector that Reuters cited, and fell to 34,490 by Thursday night. Complaints specifically categorised under Microsoft 365 had dropped to nearly 13,000 by 5:47 PM ET.
The disruption underscores how cloud-based services are affecting airline communication and customer support processes, even if flights are still running.
