Alaska Airlines said it had resumed its operations Friday after thousands of Americans found themselves stuck on the ground due to an IT outage that prevented any of its planes from taking off.
“A temporary ground stop is in place,” the airline announced on social media at 4:20 p.m Thursday. “We apologize for the inconvenience. If you’re scheduled to fly tonight, please check your flight status before heading to the airport.”
The airline said in a statement that more than 360 Alaska and Horizon Air flights were canceled Thursday and Friday as they worked to “re-position aircraft and crews throughout our network.” The ground stop was lifted at 11:30 p.m. Thursday.
The airline didn’t disclose the cause of the outage.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where the carrier is based, reported 82 Alaska Airlines flight delays and 17 cancellations around 7 p.m., according to flight tracking website FlightAware. Los Angeles International Airport, meanwhile, reported eight Alaska Airlines flight delays and one cancellation at 7 p.m.
The airline said that the issue began with a failure at their primary data center around 3:30 p.m.
“The IT outage has impacted several of our key systems that enable us to run various operations, necessitating the implementation of the ground stop to keep our aircraft in position,” the airline stated on its website. “The safety of our flights was never compromised.”
A traveler in Austin, Texas, wrote on X that the airline’s gates were “jammed” Thursday.
“Crews here still with no update only to say that nothing has been officially canceled and they’re still counting on system to come back up … soon,” Mike Cully wrote about his flight to Portland, Ore.
The outage marked the second time in recent months that IT issues prevented Alaska Airlines from flying. The airline grounded all flights for a three-hour period in July after a similar outage.
The airline apologized that the outage resulted in the cancellation of flights on Thursday evening and Friday and advised passengers to check their flight status before heading to the airport.
A flexible travel policy is in effect, allowing travelers to change their flight at no cost or cancel their flight and receive a refund.
Hawaiian Airlines, which was purchased by Alaska Air Group last year, wasn’t affected by the outage.
Customers have also reported problems with accessing the airline’s website and app. The airline flies to 40 destinations worldwide, including 37 states and 12 countries, according to its website.
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