Alaska Airlines Grounds Entire Fleet Nationwide After IT Outage

On Sunday night, Alaska Airlines experienced a major system-wide IT outage that forced a full ground stop of its entire fleet, including Horizon Air flights, causing widespread flight cancellations and delays across the United States. The outage began around 8 p.m. Pacific Time and lasted for nearly three hours, grounding over 300 planes and disrupting operations at major hubs such as Seattle-Tacoma, Portland, and Los Angeles. Passengers were stranded on planes and in terminals, facing long lines, missed connections, and limited hotel availability. Although the specific cause of the failure remains undisclosed, cybersecurity concerns have been raised due to recent FBI warnings about ransomware threats targeting the aviation industry, with speculation about a possible link to the Scattered Spider ransomware group. Alaska Airlines issued an apology to affected travelers and urged passengers to check flight statuses before heading to airports, while warning that residual delays and cancellations would continue into the following day. The incident highlights the critical reliance of airlines on IT infrastructure and the operational vulnerabilities posed by potential cyberattacks.