Alaska, Horizon Airlines Ground Entire Fleet Nationwide Over IT Outage

On Sunday night, Alaska Airlines and its regional subsidiary Horizon Air temporarily grounded all flights nationwide due to an IT system outage, prompting the airline to request a ground stop from the Federal Aviation Administration. The outage affected Alaska Airlines' mainline fleet of over 200 Boeing planes as well as Horizon Air's regional aircraft, causing widespread disruptions including stranded passengers and technical issues with the airline's website and mobile app. Alaska Airlines apologized for the inconvenience and stated it was working to resolve the issues, warning of potential residual impacts throughout the evening as operations attempt to return to normal. The exact cause of the IT outage has not been disclosed, and neither the airline nor the FAA provided detailed comments beyond the advisory. Alaska Airlines, the fifth largest U.S. airline, serves more than 120 destinations and carries over 44 million passengers annually, making the disruption significant for travelers nationwide. This incident follows a previous major IT-related disruption in the airline industry nearly a year ago, though no direct link has been established.