Alaska Airlines’ Nationwide IT Outage Brings Travel to a Standstill
Thousands of travelers faced unexpected chaos on the night of July 20, 2025, as Alaska Airlines was hit by an IT outage so severe it forced the abrupt grounding of every mainline and Horizon Air flight for three tense hours. The disruption, sparking a rare, system-wide halt, left more than 200 aircraft stuck at gates from coast to coast. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) quickly sent out advisories, as airport monitors across the country flipped to 'delayed' and anxious passengers waited for updates.
The whole situation kicked off just after 8 p.m. Pacific. Alaska Airlines’ tech backbone sputtered and failed, slamming operations to a halt. Flights everywhere rapidly trickled to a stop. Not just Alaska’s main fleet, but also every single Horizon Air flight—its major regional partner—was frozen in place. The airline later explained the problem stemmed from a sudden hardware breakdown. So far, there’s no clear sign of foul play.
Travelers Feel the Ripple Effects Across Alaska and Beyond
The timing couldn’t have been worse. Microsoft had just sent out urgent alerts about cyberattacks targeting server infrastructure worldwide. Even though some wondered if hackers were involved, Alaska Airlines pinned this mess squarely on a hardware failure, shutting down the cyberattack rumors for now. Still, folks were quick to remember the tech disruption in Seattle just months earlier. With two major tech meltdowns so close together, trust in smooth travels took a hit.
The ripple effects stretched into the next day. In Anchorage and Fairbanks, flights were scrapped altogether, with long lines building up at ticket counters. The airline scrambled to shuffle planes and crews across its network, but delays kept piling up. Airlines are a finely-tuned dance of schedules, and when just one part hiccups, it throws the whole show off balance for hours, sometimes even days. Airports urged everyone to double-check their flight status before heading out, and many travelers ended up spending hours—or a night—in terminals.
- More than 200 aircraft were grounded.
- Every Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air passenger in the U.S. saw delays or cancellations.
- Residual disruptions lingered as crews and planes had to be repositioned to the right airports.
- Cancellations hit Alaska’s busiest airports, leaving hundreds stranded.
Alaska Airlines issued a formal apology, acknowledging just how much the disruption threw travel plans into disarray. They promised a full return to normal operations as quickly as possible, but recovery after these kinds of technical failures is rarely quick or painless. For many, this event raised questions about just how fragile airline operations can be—even for a carrier called one of the most reliable in North America.
As airlines revert to regular schedules, the focus now shifts to lessons learned and the race to prevent another repeat in an industry that can’t afford more surprises.
