Alaska Airlines Grounds All US Flights After Major IT System Failure
Air travel across the United States faced major disruption on Thursday after Alaska Airlines ordered a nationwide ground stop due to a widespread technical outage.
The airline confirmed that a system failure in its IT network forced operations to halt at every US airport where it operates. “We are currently experiencing an IT outage that is affecting our ability to operate flights,” the carrier said, adding that teams were working urgently to restore systems and resume services. However, no timeline was provided for the full restoration of operations.
The grounding also extended to Horizon Air, a regional carrier operated by Alaska Airlines, according to an alert issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Based in Seattle, Alaska Airlines flies to 140 destinations including 37 US states and 12 countries, with a heavy focus on West Coast routes. The carrier recently completed its merger with Hawaiian Airlines, though Hawaiian flights were not impacted by the outage.
This marks the second major tech failure for the airline in 2024—a similar outage in July halted flights for several hours, stranding passengers and disrupting schedules.
The latest shutdown comes as US air travel is already strained by the ongoing government shutdown, which has led to staffing shortages in air traffic control and delays at numerous airports.
Alaska Airlines has not yet responded to additional media inquiries regarding the cause of the outage or the number of affected flights.