Marina
On Thursday, Alaska Airlines grounded its flights across the United States after declaring it was facing an “IT outage affecting operations.”
The Seattle-based carrier later identified the root cause as a failure in its primary data centre—not a cyber-attack or any other external incident.
Details of the Incident
- The disruption impacted both Alaska Airlines and its regional affiliate, Horizon Air, prompting widespread flight cancellations. Hawaiian Airlines, however, continued operating unaffected.
- The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ground stop at approximately 7:30 p.m. ET at Alaska’s request.
- According to the airline, multiple critical systems that support its operations were impacted, making the ground stop necessary so that aircraft could remain safely in position.
- The airline emphasised that flight safety was never compromised, despite the operational disruption.
- Passengers were advised to verify their flight status before departing for airports. The airline issued a formal apology to travellers whose plans were interrupted and pledged to get them to their destinations as quickly as possible.
Background & Broader Impact
This is the second significant IT outage to hit Alaska Airlines this year. In July, a similar outage forced a three-hour halt in operations.
With a network that spans most of the U.S. and 12 other countries, the airline runs approximately 1,500 flights daily—meaning even a short interruption can ripple across the entire system.
The nationwide grounding of Alaska Airlines flights due to an IT outage underscores how dependent modern aviation has become on digital infrastructure.
While safety remained intact, the incident underscores the need for continuous investment in resilient systems, backup protocols and rapid recovery strategies.
For passengers, the key takeaway is to stay informed and monitor flight status when disruptions occur, especially with airlines that operate large, complex networks.