SEATTLE — For the second time in four months, Alaska Airlines passengers found themselves grounded when the carrier’s information-technology systems failed. Thursday’s breakdown at the airline’s primary data center froze operations for about eight hours, forcing the cancellation of more than 400 flights on Thursday and Friday and disrupting the travel plans of 49,000 customers.
What went wrong this time?
Alaska has not yet disclosed the specific cause of the malfunction, nor whether it was linked to a separate hardware failure in July that halted flights for three hours and triggered four days of rolling delays. The earlier incident involved a piece of multiredundant hardware whose main unit and backup both collapsed. After July, the airline said it had “hardened” systems. But the fresh outage “underscores the work that remains to be done,” Alaska added in a prepared statement. In response, the Seattle-based carrier is hiring outside specialists to conduct a top-to-bottom review of its IT infrastructure.
Scope of the flight disruptions
• 115 Alaska-branded departures were canceled at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on Thursday, followed by another 95 on Friday.
• Horizon Air, Alaska’s regional subsidiary, scrubbed 29 flights Thursday and 12 Friday.
• Hawaiian Airlines, recently acquired by Alaska, operated normally. Cirium spokesperson Mike Arnot put the performance hit in perspective, noting Alaska’s reputation for low cancellations and strong on-time arrivals “month in and month out,” an assessment he shared Friday.
How travelers felt the pain
Phone queues stretched as long as seven hours, terminal lines wound through concourses, and some aircraft sat on remote tarmacs waiting for an open gate. Andrew Moore, rerouted twice on a Denver–Seattle itinerary originally set for 8 a.m. Friday, ended up with a journey involving two layovers and just one day at home before his next business trip. Rebecca Jameson, delayed four hours in Chicago before her flight was ultimately axed, faced a 10-hour wait time when she tried to rebook by phone. And Paul Schumacher spent $135 on an Uber from Paine Field back to Seattle-Tacoma after his Nashville flight diverted because gates at the main hub were jammed.
Financial fallout
Alaska postponed its scheduled call with Wall Street analysts to focus on restoring service. The company has not provided an estimate for losses tied to the latest disruption, saying only that costs will be reflected in fourth-quarter earnings. July’s outage reduced third-quarter earnings per share by about 10 cents.
Why airline IT keeps breaking
Tiffany Funk, founder of travel-tech firm point.me, said Thursday’s events demonstrate “how fragile the air-travel system can be,” adding during an interview that modern and decades-old software often coexist within the same airline network. Carriers frequently defer expensive upgrades in favor of aircraft or cabin investments, creating a patchwork that can unravel when a single component fails.
Redundancy versus reality
Schumacher called on Alaska’s board to invest in truly redundant data centers. “Yes, it is expensive,” he said in the terminal Friday morning, “but how much revenue have they lost in the past 24 hours?”
What Alaska is doing next
1. Contracting outside IT auditors to map vulnerabilities across every data center. 2. Reviewing backup policies after two outages in four months. 3. Allowing affected travelers to claim reimbursement for meals, hotels and ground transport; customers must submit receipts and booking references.
Tips for Travelers
- Hold onto receipts. Alaska has told passengers they can claim out-of-pocket costs incurred because of the meltdown.
- Use multiple channels. If phone queues top five hours, try texting Alaska’s customer-service line or direct-messaging the airline’s social-media team.
- Monitor alternate airports. Thursday’s diversions sent planes to Paine Field, Spokane, Portland and other Pacific Northwest gateways.
- Book refundable rooms. Passengers such as Jameson experienced back-to-back cancellations overnight; flexible hotel reservations can reduce stress.
- Check credit-card coverage. Many premium cards reimburse meals and lodging after delays of six hours or longer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to fly after an IT outage?
Yes. Alaska emphasized that flight safety systems were not compromised; the failure affected scheduling, dispatch and passenger-service functions.
Are more cancellations expected?
Operational ripples often last two to three days after a mass cancellation event. Monitor Alaska’s app and FlightAware for gate changes and delays.
Will Hawaiian Airlines passengers be affected during the merger?
Hawaiian flights operated normally during the outage, suggesting that integration work has not yet linked the two carriers’ data systems.
What compensation rules apply?
U.S. regulations do not mandate cash compensation for delays, but Alaska’s contract of carriage provides meal or hotel vouchers for controllable disruptions.
How common are airline IT failures?
Major U.S. carriers have each suffered at least one large-scale outage over the past decade, typically rooted in aging software or hardware flaws.
Bottom line for Jetsetters
Alaska Airlines remains one of North America’s punctuality leaders, but two blackouts in four months highlight the importance of tech resilience. Until the promised audit delivers results, travelers booking Alaska should build extra buffer time into tight connections and keep contingency plans handy. — as Alaska said in a prepared statement.
