An Alaska Airlines IT outage grounded hundreds of flights across the US on Sunday evening, causing widespread travel disruption and confusion. The issue began around 7 pm Alaska time, prompting the airline to confirm the grounding included flights under its brand and its regional carrier, Horizon Air, across all airports.
The airline operates more than 320 aircraft, including Boeing 737s and Embraer 175s, most of which were grounded during the outage. The IT system failure affected flight coordination tools, forcing the airline to halt takeoffs until its teams could assess the situation.
By 10 pm Alaska time, Alaska Airlines had lifted the ground stop after restoring its systems, allowing flight operations to gradually resume. In an online update, the airline said passengers should expect residual delays as crews and aircraft reposition across various airports.
Officials advised travelers to check their flight status before leaving for the airport to avoid unexpected delays or cancellations. The airline apologized to customers and said technicians were working to ensure system stability following the unexpected technical failure.
During the outage, the Federal Aviation Administration received a request from Alaska Airlines to temporarily halt over 200 flights. Once the scope of the issue became clear, the order was extended to include Horizon Air flights operating under Alaska’s network.
The airline said restoring operations would take time as grounded aircraft and flight crews returned to assigned routes and schedules. A banner on the Alaska Airlines website acknowledged the service disruption and reassured customers of its IT team’s ongoing repair efforts.
