Just three months after having experienced a similar issue, Alaska Airlines was hit by an IT outage on Thursday, 23 October 2025. All flights were grounded for several hours before the airline was able to resume its operations.
In July 2025, Alaska Airlines was hit by a major IT outage, halting all operations for three hours on end. The nature of the technical error was not disclosed, but the system-wide stop was confirmed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) website.
Three months later, a similar event happened, causing all Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air (a subsidiary of the Alaska Air Group) flights to stay grounded. Hawaiian Airlines, also part of the group, was not impacted by the incident.
100 fewer Alaska Airlines aircraft in the air now compared to last week as the airline is experiencing an IT outage this evening. Some flights are now departing, but a delays will be felt for some time to come. pic.twitter.com/zIkJTTETiz
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) October 24, 2025
“Alaska Airlines is experiencing an IT outage affecting operations. We apologise for the inconvenience. If you’re scheduled to fly tonight, please check your flight status before heading to the airport”, Alaska Airlines wrote in a post on X.
According to the airline, the issue started on 23 October 2025 at 3:30 pm Pacific Time with a failure at the airline’s primary data center. A mandatory ground stop was issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) around 7:00 pm Pacific Time.
An IT outage has affected our operations and has resulted in cancellations of some of our flights this evening and into tomorrow. We apologize for the inconvenience and ask that you check your flight status before heading to the airport. A flexible travel policy is in place to… https://t.co/zfmlZPAc8o
— Alaska Airlines (@AlaskaAir) October 24, 2025
In a statement, Alaska Airlines explained how several systems needed to run various operations were impacted by the tech outage. The safety of their flights was reportedly never compromised, and the IT outage was not classified as a cybersecurity event, nor was it related to other events, according to the airline.
Consequences
While the ground stop was lifted at 11:30 pm Pacific Time, the IT outage had by then already caused severe delays and more than 229 flight cancellations. Additional flight disruptions are said to be likely, as both aircraft and crews will need to be repositioned throughout the Alaska Airlines network.
ABSOLUTE INCOMPETENCE
— Ari Hoffman 🎗 (@thehoffather) October 24, 2025
Following an IT issue @AlaskaAir did a ground stop but didn't list flights as delayed. Everyone came to the airport assuming their flight was ontime
They just canceled tonight's flights and sent everyone in the airport to one customer service desk pic.twitter.com/kMtYka75KG
“We appreciate the patience of our guests whose travel plans have been disrupted. We’re working to get them to their destinations as quickly as we can. Before heading to the airport, we encourage flyers to check their flight status. A flexible travel policy is in place to support guests as operations return to normal following an IT outage”, the airline stated.
Online, travellers have shared images of overcrowded airport gates following the events, while also showing their discontent over how the event was handled. Several passengers reportedly had to remain in their seats on board their plane for hours on end while waiting for the outcome of the incident.
Alaska Airlines operations have been restored after a significant IT outage resulted in a system-wide ground stop of flights for Alaska and Horizon. The ground stop was lifted at 11:30 p.m. Pacific. We are working to get our operations back on track as quickly and safely as…
— Alaska Airlines News (@AlaskaAirNews) October 24, 2025
“We boarded a flight to get to Kalispell. We were on the plane for two hours. They finally said, “Everybody is coming off the plane. Go down and get your bags.” “We’ve been waiting for our bags for over two hours”, Marilyn Stuart told Fox13.
Alaska Airlines is currently the fifth biggest airline in the US, flying 44 million passengers each year.
