Thousands of Americans hoping to fly found themselves stranded on the ground Thursday night when Alaska Airlines experienced an IT outage that prevented any of its planes from taking off.
“A temporary ground stopover has been made,” the airline announced on social media at 4:20 p.m. “We apologize for the inconvenience. If you are scheduled to fly tonight, please check the status of your flight before heading to the airport.”
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where the airline is based, reported 82 Alaska Airlines flight delays and 17 cancellations around 7 p.m., according to Flight Aware. Los Angeles International Airport, for its part, reported eight delays on Alaska Airlines flights and one cancellation at 7 p.m.
The airline said the problem began with a failure in its main data center around 3:30 p.m.
“The IT outage has impacted several of our key systems that allow us to conduct various operations, requiring the implementation of the ground standstill to keep our aircraft in position,” the airline stated on its website. “The safety of our flights was never compromised.”
The outage marked the second time in recent months that IT issues prevented Alaska Airlines from flying. The airline suspended all flights for a three-hour period in July after a similar disruption.
As of 8:30 p.m., the outage was still in effect and the airline said it was actively working to restore operations. The airline apologized that the disruption led to the cancellation of flights on Thursday night and upcoming flights on Friday and advised passengers to check the status of their flight before heading to the airport.
A flexible travel policy is in place that allows travelers to change their flight free of charge or cancel and receive a refund.
Customers also reported problems accessing the airline's website and app. The airline flies to 40 destinations worldwide, including 37 states and 12 countries, according to its website.
