An IT outage caused Alaska Airlines to ground its flights for approximately three hours on Sunday night.
According to a statement on X, the airline experienced an IT outage around 8 p.m. Pacific on July 20, leading to a temporary system-wide ground stop for Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air flights.
The ground stop was lifted by 11 p.m. Pacific, and operations resumed. However, there may still be residual impacts on flights as aircraft and crews are repositioned.
Alaska Airlines, based in Seattle, mentioned that it will take some time to return overall operations to normal and advised travelers to check their flight status before heading to the airport.
The airline apologized for the inconvenience and suggested checking flight status before departure. The cause of the IT outage remains unclear.
Passengers affected by the grounding at Portland International Airport were told to keep receipts for hotel and car expenses for reimbursement. Some were rebooked for a Monday flight.
One passenger, Jaclyn Martin, expressed shaken confidence after waiting on a boarded flight for an hour before being asked to deplane.
Another passenger, Ben DeCarlow, described confusion among Alaska Airlines staff during the outage and mentioned long wait times for customer service.
The IT outage follows Hawaiian Airlines, also owned by Alaska Air Group, experiencing disruptions due to a hack in June. Alaska Air Group is still assessing the financial impact of the incident.
Despite the IT issues, the FAA reassured that safety was not compromised. Tech companies have warned of hacking groups targeting the aviation sector, including the “Scattered Spider” group.
with Post wires
