Thousands of Americans hoping to get airborne found themselves stuck on the ground Thursday evening as Alaska Airlines experienced an IT outage that prevented any of its planes from taking off.
“A temporary ground stop is in place,” the airline announced on social media at 4:20 p.m. “We apologize for the inconvenience. If you’re scheduled to fly tonight, please check your flight status before heading to the airport.”
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where the carrier is based, reported 82 Alaska Airlines flight delays and 17 cancellations around 7 p.m., according to Flight Aware. Los Angeles International Airport, meanwhile, reported eight Alaska Airlines flight delays and one cancellation at 7 p.m.
The airline said the issue began with a failure at their primary data center around 3:30 p.m.
“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,” stated the airline on its website. “The safety of our flights was never compromised.”
The outage marked the second time in recent months that IT issues prevented Alaska Airlines from flying. The airline grounded all flights for a three-hour period in July after a similar outage.
As of 8:30 p.m., the outage remained in effect, and the airline said that it was actively working to restore operations. The airline apologized that the outage resulted in the cancellation of flights on Thursday evening and upcoming flights on Friday and advised passengers to check their flight status before heading to the airport.
A flexible travel policy is in effect allowing travelers to change their flight at no cost or cancel their flight and receive a refund.
Customers have also reported problems with accessing the airline’s website and app. The airline flies to 40 destinations worldwide, including 37 states and 12 countries, according to its website.
This story originally appeared on LA Times
