Alaska Airlines Resumes Flights After Major IT Outage Grounds Fleet for Hours

Alaska Airlines Back in the Air After IT Outage Causes Nationwide Grounding

Alaska Airlines has resumed operations after an IT system outage forced the carrier to ground flights across the country for several hours Friday. The airline canceled 229 flights and warned of continued disruptions as it works to get passengers and planes back on schedule.

Flights Resume After Hours-Long Outage

Alaska Airlines said Friday that it has restored operations following an information technology failure that halted its flight network nationwide earlier in the day.

In a statement, the airline said it is “repositioning aircraft and crews” after canceling 229 flights during the outage. While systems are back online, officials warned that delays and additional cancellations were likely as operations normalize.

The carrier urged passengers to check their flight status before heading to the airport.

Hawaiian Airlines Unaffected

The disruption impacted both Alaska Air and its regional carrier Horizon Air, but Hawaiian Airlines — which Alaska Air Group acquired in 2024 — said its flights were operating normally.

This is not the first time Alaska Airlines has faced a widespread system failure. In July, a hardware malfunction at a data center grounded all flights for about three hours.

Recurring Issue in the Industry

Airline IT outages are becoming an industry-wide concern, with several U.S. carriers experiencing temporary network or software issues in recent years.

Though most outages are short-lived, they often cause widespread delays and cancellations, stranding thousands of passengers.

Looking Ahead

Alaska Airlines said it is focusing on restoring full operations and assisting affected travelers with rebooking and compensation options.

As of Friday afternoon, flights were resuming, but ripple effects were expected to continue through the weekend.