Alaska Airlines IT Outage Grounds Flights Nationwide: What You Need to Know

Alaska Airlines, one of the United States’ largest carriers, experienced a significant technology outage on October 23, 2025, resulting in a nationwide grounding of all its flights, including those operated by its regional subsidiary Horizon Air. This unprecedented disruption caused widespread delays and cancellations, affecting thousands of passengers across the country.

The incident began in the mid-afternoon and led the airline to request a temporary ground stop at all airports. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an official advisory confirming the grounding of Alaska Airlines flights due to this IT issue. By early evening, some 229 flights had already been canceled, with more disruptions expected as the airline worked to reposition aircraft and crews to resume normal operations.

Alaska Airlines stated that the cause of the disruption was a failure at its primary data center. Importantly, the airline emphasized that the outage was not due to a cybersecurity attack or related to any other external event, focusing instead on a technical malfunction within their systems. The airline apologised for the inconvenience caused to travellers and urged passengers to check flight statuses before heading to airports.

The grounding persisted for approximately eight hours, with flights only beginning to resume late into the night. Alaska Airlines worked diligently to restore operations and confirmed that flight safety was never compromised throughout the disruption. To assist affected passengers, the airline implemented a flexible travel policy, enabling travellers to adjust their plans without penalties.

This outage marks the second major IT-related disruption for Alaska Airlines this year. A similar incident in July 2025 also led to a full temporary grounding lasting about three hours. Such outages highlight the critical dependency of modern airlines on their IT infrastructure and the significant impact disruptions can have on flight schedules and passenger experience.

Passengers flying with Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air experienced significant inconvenience, from last-minute cancellations to delayed departures, with airports like Seattle-Tacoma and Los Angeles reporting multiple flight delays and cancellations. While Hawaiian Airlines, another member of the Alaska Air Group, was not affected and continued normal operations, the impact on Alaska Airlines’ network was widespread due to its extensive reach to 40 destinations across the U.S. and internationally.

Alaska Airlines is known for operating approximately 1,500 daily flights and transporting millions of passengers annually. Even a short disruption in such a vast network can ripple across schedules, leading to cascading delays and logistical challenges. The airline has committed to improving the resilience of its IT systems to prevent future similar incidents.

This event serves as a reminder to travellers to remain vigilant by monitoring airline communications and flight statuses, especially amid the increasing frequency of technological disruptions in the airline industry. Alaska Airlines passengers are encouraged to utilise online resources and customer support channels for assistance and updates during irregular operations.

In conclusion, the October 2025 Alaska Airlines IT outage caused a significant system-wide grounding with hundreds of flight cancellations, stressing the importance of robust IT infrastructure in aviation. The airline has since restored operations, but the incident will likely prompt further investments and scrutiny of technology management within the carrier to enhance reliability and passenger confidence moving forward.