Hold your breath, aviation fans! The buzzing heart of Indian air travel – Delhi International Airport – recently hit a bumpy patch when a glitch in its air traffic control (ATC) messaging system caused hundreds of flights to wobble. Now, the tech smarty-pants at the Airports Authority of India (AAI) are sounding a loud alarm. The Air Traffic Safety Electronics Personnel Association (ATSEPA), a dedicated group of electronic engineers at AAI, has boldly told the government: “Wake up and modernize our airport navigation systems right NOW!” Here's the scoop: The nuts and bolts that keep planes soaring smoothly are called Communication, Navigation, and Surveillance (CNS). These are the key players in managing air traffic safely 24x7. According to ATSEPA, these CNS systems have been ignored for too long. The association's office bearer, Yogendra Gautam, sent a fiery message to the Civil Aviation Minister, saying, "The recent operational disruptions at Delhi Airport have once again highlighted a long-standing and serious concern repeatedly raised by ATSEPA (INDIA), the neglect of CNS infrastructure and the continuous sidelining of technical inputs provided by CNS engineers to AAI leadership." But wait, there's more drama! ATSEPA points out that the outdated Automated Message Switching System (AMSS), which is like the old engine behind communications, lacks backups and modern features. Instead of fixing this ‘core’ issue, the spotlight was unfairly put on the Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs), even though there are enough of them. The engineers say, "ATCOs remain heavily dependent on automated systems, and even in failure scenarios, manual fallback is often resisted or inadequately executed, leading to the accumulation of errors and operational delays." ATSEPA isn't just complaining; they have a wish list. They want the government to: - Pump priority funds into upgrading CNS systems at major airports. - Use trained CNS engineers where they really matter – not in unrelated, non-technical jobs. - Value the technical advice from CNS engineers when buying or updating systems. - Review Air Traffic Management (ATM) operations to reduce over-reliance on old automation and promote better manual fallback. In a nutshell, ATSEPA says aviation safety needs shiny new technology, skilled engineers, and smart systems – not just more bosses. It's a high-tech wake-up call for Indian skies: get modern, or brace for more flight chaos!