U.S. carrier Alaska Airlines (ALK.N) was forced to temporarily suspend operations on Sunday night following a widespread IT system failure.
The disruption led to the grounding of all Alaska and Horizon Air flights, marking the second such incident involving the airline in a little over a year.
“At approximately 8 p.m. Pacific on Sunday (0300 GMT on Monday), Alaska Airlines experienced an IT outage that’s impacting our operations.
We requested a temporary, system-wide ground stop for Alaska and Horizon Air flights,” the airline stated in an email to Reuters.
Although the airline did not detail the root cause of the problem, it acknowledged that the issue would cause continued delays into the night. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has yet to respond to requests for clarification made outside regular working hours.
The FAA’s flight status platform reflected a system-wide hold on Alaska Airlines’ mainline aircraft as well as a halt to Horizon Air services.
Related story: Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Incident, Flights Remain on Schedule
Recurring Operational Disruptions and Rising Cybersecurity Concerns
This isn’t the first time Alaska Airlines has had to ground its aircraft due to technical complications.
Back in April 2024, the airline paused operations across its fleet following a failure in the software responsible for calculating aircraft weight and balance.
That incident came just months after a troubling event in which a door panel detached from a Boeing 737 MAX 9 mid-flight—also operated by Alaska.
According to the company’s official site, Alaska Air Group operates 238 Boeing 737s and 87 Embraer 175 aircraft.
Alaska’s latest IT crisis follows similar cyber-related disruptions affecting other carriers. In June, Hawaiian Airlines, which is part of Alaska Air Group, revealed that some of its internal systems had been compromised in a cyberattack.
The company stated that it was still assessing the financial implications of that breach.
Recent warnings from major tech firms like Google and Palo Alto Networks have spotlighted the aviation industry as a potential target for cybercriminals. The hacking group known as “Scattered Spider” has been identified as having a particular interest in breaching aviation infrastructure.
Other airlines have recently been impacted as well: WestJet Airlines in Canada suffered a cyber-related disruption in June, while Australia’s Qantas disclosed in July that a breach had exposed personal data of millions of customers.
It remains uncertain if Alaska’s latest outage is connected to Microsoft’s announcement on Sunday of “active attacks” targeting its server software used by government bodies and private companies.
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