Alaska Airlines resumes flights after equipment failure at a data center grounds all its planes

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Alaska Airlines resumes flights after equipment failure at a data center grounds all its planes

2025-07-21 23:56 Last Updated At：07-22 00:00

Alaska Airlines has resumed flights after the failure of a critical piece of hardware forced the airline to ground all its planes for approximately three hours, but the effects will linger into Monday, the company announced.

The carrier issued a system-wide ground stop for Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air flights around 8 p.m. Pacific time Sunday. The stop was lifted at 11 p.m., the Seattle-based company said in a social media post. More than 150 flights have been canceled since Sunday evening. The FlightAware tracking site reported 84 cancellations and nearly 150 delays Monday.

“We appreciate the patience of our guests whose travel plans have been disrupted. We’re working to get them to their destinations as quickly as we can,” the airline said in a statement.

The airline said “a critical piece of multi-redundant hardware at our data centers, manufactured by a third-party, experienced an unexpected failure.” That affected several of the airlines key systems, but hacking was not involved, and the airline said the incident was not related to any other events like the attack involving Microsoft's servers over the weekend or the recent cybersecurity event at its Hawaiian Airlines subsidiary in June.

The airline also said it is working with its vendor to replace the hardware at the data center.

Alaska Airlines led all airlines in cancellations Monday, according to FlightAware. Many of the cancellations were at the airline's major hub of Seattle, but it also canceled flights at airports all over the country.

The Federal Aviation Administration website had confirmed a ground stop for all Alaska Airlines mainline and Horizon aircraft, referring to an Alaska Airlines subsidiary. But the FAA referred all questions to the airline Monday.

There has been a history of computer problems disrupting flights in the industry, though most of the time the disruptions are only temporary. Airlines have large, layered technology systems, and crew-tracking programs are often among the oldest systems. They also rely on other systems to check in passengers and make pre-flight calculations about aircraft weight and balance. But some of the most widespread problems are often related to computer systems the airlines themselves don't control.

Nearly every major U.S. airline had to cancel hundreds — if not thousands — of flights last year after a major internet outage that was blamed on a software update that cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike sent to Microsoft computers of its corporate customers, including many airlines.

The FAA caused all U.S. departures to be halted briefly in January 2023 when a system used to alert pilots to safety hazards failed. That was the first nationwide ground stop since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The agency blamed a contractor that it said accidentally deleted files while synchronizing the alert system and its backup.

One of the biggest individual airline tech problems was the December 2022 debacle that caused Southwest Airlines to cancel nearly 17,000 flights over a 15-day stretch. After a federal investigation of Southwest’s compliance with consumer-protection rules, the airline agreed to pay a $35 million fine as part of a $140 million settlement with the Transportation Department.

Southwest’s breakdown started during a winter storm, but the airline’s recovery took unusually long because of problems with a crew-scheduling system.

The air traffic controllers that direct flights in and out of the nation's airports also rely on outdated technology that the Trump administration has proposed overhauling after a series of high-profile failures and crashes this year, especially at Newark Liberty International Airport. Congress included $12.5 billion for those upgrades in Trump's overall budget bill, but officials have described that as only a down payment on the project.

The National Transportation Board last month credited the crew of Alaska Airlines flight 1282 with the survival of passengers when a door plug panel flew off the plane shortly after takeoff on Jan. 5, 2024, leaving a hole that sucked objects out of the cabin.

In September, Alaska Airlines said it grounded its flights in Seattle briefly due to “significant disruptions” from an unspecified technology problem that was resolved within hours.

Dozens presumed dead and about 100 injured in fire at Swiss Alps bar during New Year's celebration

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — Dozens of people are presumed dead and about 100 injured, most of them seriously, following a fire at a Swiss Alps bar during a New Year’s celebration, police said Thursday.

“Several tens of people” were killed at the bar, Le Constellation, Valais Canton police commander Frédéric Gisler said.

Work is underway to identify the victims and inform their families but “that will take time and for the time being it is premature to give you a more precise figure," Gisler said.

Beatrice Pilloud, attorney general of the Valais Canton, said it was too early to determine the cause of the fire. Experts have not yet been able to go inside the wreckage.

“At no moment is there a question of any kind of attack,” Pilloud said.

Officials called the blaze an “embrasement généralisé,” a firefighting term describing how a blaze can trigger the release of combustible gases that can then ignite violently and cause what English-speaking firefighters would call a flashover or a backdraft.

“This evening should have been a moment of celebration and coming together, but it turned into a nightmare,” said Mathias Rénard, head of the regional government.

The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, Rénard said.

Helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene to assist victims, including some from different countries, officials said.

“We are devastated,” Frédéric Gisler, commander of the Valais Cantonal police, said during a news conference.

The injured were so numerous that the intensive care unit and operating theater at the regional hospital quickly hit full capacity, according to regional councilor Mathias Rénard.

The municipality had banned New Year’s Eve fireworks due to lack of rainfall in the past month, according to its website.

In a region busy with tourists skiing on the slopes, the authorities have called on the local population to show caution in the coming days to avoid any accidents that could require medical resources that are already overwhelmed.

The community is in the heart of the Swiss Alps, just 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the Matterhorn, one of the most famous Alpine peaks, and 130 kilometers (81 miles) south of Zurich.

The highest point of Crans-Montana, with a population of 10,000 residents, sits at an elevation of nearly 3,000 meters (1.86 miles), according to the municipality’s website, which says officials are seeking to move away from a tourist culture and attract high-tech research and development.

The municipality was formed only nine years ago, on Jan. 1, 2017, when multiple towns merged. It extends over 590 hectares (2.3 square miles) from the Rhône Valley to the Plaine Morte glacier.

Crans-Montana is one of the top race venues on the World Cup circuit in Alpine skiing and will host the next world championships over two weeks in February 2027.

In four weeks’ time, the resort will host the best men’s and women’s downhill racers for their last events before going to the Milan Cortina Olympics, which open Feb. 6.

Crans-Montana also is a premium venue in international golf. The Crans-sur-Sierre club stages the European Masters each August on a picturesque course with stunning mountains views.