Alaska Airlines Grounds Flights After Major IT Outage

United States: Alaska Airlines grounded all its flights on Sunday, July 21, 2025 as a result of a large-scale IT issue that disrupted its systems at around 11 p.m. The airline confirmed the news in a press statement but did not share the exact cause of the issue. 

The carrier said during a statement, “At approximately 8pm Pacific on Sunday (0300 GMT on Monday), Alaska Airlines experienced an IT outage that’s impacting our operations.” In response to the issue, Alaska Airlines requested a temporary ground stop for all its flights, including those operated by Horizon Air. 

“We requested a temporary, system-wide ground stop for Alaska and Horizon Air flights,” shared Alaska Airlines. 

They said that the outage would continue to affect operations throughout the night. Moreover, the airline has not yet confirmed when the normal services would resume.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has not yet issued a statement regarding the airline’s issue. However, the FAA’s website confirmed that Alaska Airlines’ mainline flights and Horizon operations were affected by the ground stop.

This marks the 2nd time in just over a year that Alaska Airlines has grounded its entire flight services. In April 2024, the airline stopped its operations due to a system failure used to determine plane weight and balance. In addition, a door panel on an Alaska-operated Boeing 737 MAX 9 blew off midair a few months prior, which raised more concerns for safety.

Increased concern over rising aviation cyber attacks 

Alaska Air Group owns a fleet of 238 Boeing 737 aircrafts and 87 Embraer 175 aircrafts. They have not confirmed yet if the present issue is a result of a cyber attack which recently saw reports from tech companies like Google and Palo Alto Networks for the aviation sector. 

Also in June, Alaska’s affiliate Hawaiian Airlines reported a cyber hack. Canada’s WestJet and Australia’s Qantas also suffered cyber incidents in recent months. On Sunday, Microsoft warned of active attacks on server software which is used by many businesses and government agencies.