Alaska Airlines IT outage: What has the airline said, has it resumed flying?

Alaska Airlines has issued an update on the IT outage which reportedly led to the cancellation of over 229 flights across Thursday and Friday, affecting tens of thousands of travellers. Alaska Airlines has issued a statement which read: “Alaska Airlines is working to restore operations to normal as quickly and safely as possible after a significant IT outage led to a systemwide ground stop for Alaska and Horizon Air flights. The ground stop was lifted at 11:30 p.m. Pacific on Thursday, Oct. 23; the issue began earlier that day at approximately 3:30 p.m. when a failure occurred at our primary data center.

“Throughout Thursday and into Friday morning, we have canceled more than 360 flights on Alaska and Horizon. Additional flight disruptions are likely as we reposition aircraft and crews throughout our network. Hawaiian Airlines flights are not impacted. The IT outage is not a cybersecurity incident.

“We sincerely apologize to 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 the IT outage.”

At 12:15am Pacific Time, Alaska Airlines issued another statement which read: “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 possible. Since this afternoon, we’ve had more than 229 flight cancellations. Additional flight disruptions are likely as we reposition aircraft and crews throughout our network.

“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.”

On Thursday October 23, Alaska Airlines said: “Alaska Airlines is experiencing an IT outage that has resulted in a systemwide ground stop of Alaska and Horizon Air flights across our network, causing delays and cancellations. The IT outage does not affect Hawaiian Airlines flights. The issue began around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23, with a failure at our primary data center.

“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 safety of our flights was never compromised.

The IT outage is not a cybersecurity event, and it’s not related to any other events.

We deeply apologize to our guests whose travel plans have been disrupted today. We’re working to get them to their destinations as quickly as we can. For those who have a flight with us, please check your flight status before leaving for the airport. Also, a flexible travel policy is in place to support our guests.”