TURN IT OFF AND ON?

Airline Grounds Flights After Nationwide Tech Failure

Alaska Airlines said the problems led to widespread cancellations.

Alaska Airlines grounded its entire fleet after a second technology failure in three months. An IT problem hit the Seattle-based carrier’s primary data center on Thursday afternoon, leading to a ground stop that was not lifted until 2:30 a.m. ET on Friday. Alaska Airlines said it did not believe a cyberattack was to blame, and no safety concerns arose during the ground stop. Horizon Air, a subsidiary of Alaska, was also affected, although Hawaiian Airlines is operating as usual. The airline suffered a similar issue in July, with its flights grounded for three hours. “Alaska Airlines is working to restore operations to normal as quickly and safely as possible after a significant IT outage led to a systemwide ground stop for Alaska and Horizon Air flights,” the airline told the Daily Beast, adding that over 360 flights were axed across Thursday and Friday. “We sincerely apologize to our guests whose travel plans have been disrupted,” the airline added. “We’re working to get them to their destinations as quickly as we can.”