Alaska Airlines Grounds Flights After IT Outage at Seattle-Tacoma Airport

On September 22, Alaska Airlines temporarily halted departing flights from its main hub, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), following an IT outage. The ground stop, requested by Alaska Airlines at 19:45 local time (2:45 UTC), lasted for nearly two hours, causing significant delays for passengers. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) initially issued the order due to automation issues affecting Alaska Airlines and its regional affiliates, Horizon Air and SkyWest Airlines.

As a result, delays increased dramatically, with some flights facing delays of up to 645 minutes. Although the ground stop was later extended until 22:45 local time, the FAA ultimately canceled it at 21:53. By that time, 94% of flights had been delayed, with an average delay time of 45 minutes.

Seattle-Tacoma International is Alaska Airlines' largest hub, with the airline accounting for 28.3% of the airport's scheduled weekly departures in September. Despite the eventual resolution of the IT issue, the incident caused widespread disruption, impacting over 6,650 passengers on 45 flights.