Saturday, Oct. 25 – 10 a.m. Pacific Time
Alaska Airlines’ operations have returned to normal following a significant IT outage on Thursday, Oct. 23, that led to a systemwide ground stop for Alaska and Horizon Air-operated flights.
As of Saturday morning, we have canceled nine flights related to the IT outage recovery. That compares to 139 Alaska cancellations and 35 Horizon cancellations on Friday, in addition to numerous delayed flights. Overall, the cancellations impacted the travel plans of nearly 50,000 guests.
We are deeply sorry for the disruptions this event has caused for so many of our valued guests. We continue to work to get everyone to their destinations as quickly as possible.
Before heading to the airport, we encourage flyers to check their flight status. A flexible travel policy that allows guests to self-service on our app and website is in place. We have also increased guest care staffing to support higher volumes but recognize that wait times have been frustratingly long.
We know our guests put their trust in us when they choose to fly with Alaska, and this level of performance is not acceptable. And while safety is our most critical responsibility, the reliability of our operations is an essential expectation of our guests.
Following a similar disruption earlier this year, we took action to harden our systems, but this failure underscores the work that remains to be done to ensure system stability. We are immediately bringing in outside technical experts to diagnose our entire IT infrastructure to ensure we are as resilient as we need to be.
The reliability of our technology is fundamental to our ability to serve guests and get them to where they need to be. As we expand and execute the plan to ensure our systems are sufficiently resilient, we will continue to share updates on our progress.
Friday, Oct. 24 – 2 p.m. Pacific Time
Alaska Airlines is working to normalize operations safely and as quickly as possible after a significant IT outage led to a systemwide ground stop for Alaska and Horizon operated 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.
As of 1 p.m. Pacific on Friday, Oct. 24, we have canceled more than 400 flights on Alaska and Horizon. Over the two days, more than 49,000 passengers have had their travel plans disrupted. Hawaiian Airlines flights were not impacted.
We are deeply sorry for the disruptions this event has caused for so many of our valued guests. We’re working to get everyone 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 that allows guests to self-service on our app and website is in place. We have also increased guest care staffing to support higher volumes, but recognize that wait times have been frustratingly long.
We know our guests put their trust in us when they choose to fly with Alaska, and this level of performance is not acceptable. And while safety is our most critical responsibility, the reliability of our operations is an essential expectation of our guests.
Following a similar disruption earlier this year, we took action to harden our systems, but this failure underscores the work that remains to be done to ensure system stability. We are immediately bringing in outside technical experts to diagnose our entire IT infrastructure to ensure we are as resilient as we need to be.
The reliability of our technology is fundamental to our ability to serve guests and get them to where they need to be. As we expand and execute the plan to ensure our systems are sufficiently resilient, we will continue to share updates on our progress.
Friday, Oct. 24 – 6 a.m. Pacific Time
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.
Friday, Oct. 24 – 12:15 a.m. Pacific Time
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.
Thursday, Oct. 23 – 7 p.m. Pacific Time
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.