Alaska Airlines IT Outage Causes Widespread Flight Disruptions

Authors: Janelle Pule, Helen Smith

Published: 4:46 PM PDT, October 23, 2025

Updated: 6:30 AM PDT, October 24, 2025

SEATTLE — A significant IT outage at Alaska Airlines' primary data center led to the cancellation of over 360 flights nationwide between Thursday night and Friday morning, according to an airline spokesperson. The outage, which began at 3:30 p.m. PDT (6:30 p.m. ET) on Thursday, October 23, 2025, disrupted key systems essential for flight operations, prompting a systemwide ground stop that lasted approximately eight hours. The ground stop was lifted at 11:30 p.m. PDT (2:30 a.m. ET), but delays and cancellations continue to impact travelers as the airline works to reposition aircraft and crews.

Impact on Operations to Alaska Airlines

The outage affected Alaska Airlines and its regional partner, Horizon Air, with more than 229 flights canceled across the U.S. by Friday morning, as reported by the airline. At Boston's Logan International Airport, six flights were canceled and one was delayed as of 8 a.m. ET on October 24, with five cancellations and seven delays reported the previous day, according to FlightAware. Alaska Airlines confirmed the issue stemmed from a failure at its primary data center and was not related to cybersecurity.

Travelers are likely to experience further disruptions as the airline works to restore normal operations. "We are working to get our operations back on track as quickly and safely as possible," Alaska Airlines said in a statement.

Flexible Travel Policy

To accommodate affected passengers, Alaska Airlines has implemented a flexible travel policy allowing travelers to change or cancel their flights without fees. Passengers can check real-time flight statuses on Massport's Flight Status board or Alaska Airlines' official website.

Previous Disruptions

This is not the first IT-related issue for Alaska Airlines in 2025. In July, a similar outage grounded all mainline flights, causing significant delays and cancellations. The airline is now focusing on stabilizing its systems to prevent further disruptions.

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