Alaska Airlines IT Outage Grounds Hundreds of US Flights, Operations Restored with Ongoing Disruptions

Alaska Airlines experienced a significant IT outage on Thursday, leading to a system-wide ground stop and the cancellation of over 360 flights, including those operated by its regional carrier Horizon Air. The outage, attributed to a failure in the airline's primary data center and not a cyberattack, caused widespread disruptions across the U.S., especially affecting flights connecting Las Vegas with West Coast cities. Operations were gradually restored late Thursday night, but passengers were warned to expect ongoing delays and additional cancellations as the airline worked to reposition aircraft and crews. Alaska Airlines has apologized for the inconvenience and is offering accommodations, meal vouchers, and alternative transportation to affected travelers while encouraging customers to check flight statuses before heading to airports. This incident marks the second IT outage for Alaska Airlines this year, raising concerns about the carrier's system reliability and the aviation industry's vulnerability to technical failures. The airline operates about 1,500 daily flights covering 37 states and 12 countries, and Hawaiian Airlines, a subsidiary, was not impacted by the outage.