Airline Forced To Ground All Flights Due to Tech Issue

One of the country's top airlines was forced to temporarily suspend service amid a technical issue.

At around 8 PM Pacific time on Sunday, Alaska Airlines experienced an IT outage. The airline grounded all flights as the issue was resolved, keeping pilots, crew and passengers on the ground for roughly three hours.

"At approximately 8 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, Alaska Airlines experienced an IT outage that’s impacting our operations. We requested a temporary, system-wide ground stop for Alaska and Horizon Air flights until the issue is resolved," the airline said in a statement.

"We apologize to our guests for this inconvenience. There will be residual impacts to our operation throughout the evening. If you are traveling tonight, please check the status of your flight before leaving for the airport."

The issue affected major airports like Seattle-Tacoma International, which was forced to ground nearly 50 Alaska flights overnight.

"As we reposition our aircraft and crews, there will most likely be residual impacts to our flights. It will take some time to get our overall operations back to normal," an airline official told local news station FOX 13, reiterating the message to all guests.

Passengers on affected flights were forced to make arrangements for alternative travel, including at Portland's International Airport.

One passenger, who said that she rarely flies, told KOIN 6 in Portland that she had been on an Alaska flight for an hour before being asked to de-plane.

Another passenger told the outlet that despite the problems, officials and employees were doing their best to alleviate the surprise issue.

The passenger told KOIN that airline employees "were very apologetic."

"They just saw a network system error, and they couldn’t figure out any more than we could. So they said, maybe try to the 1-800 number and see if that helps. And it was a 2.5 hour wait time for that.”

The IT issue stranded passengers for hours throughout the Pacific Northwest on Sunday night, but it seems to have been resolved. We'll see if Alaska Airlines can avoid future issues as passengers continue to travel during a busy summer season.