Alaska Airlines ground all flights: What caused the nationwide disruption?

Alaska Airlines on Thursday grounded its flights at all airports. The ground stop also applies to Alaska Airlines' subsidiary Horizon Air, a Federal Aviation Administration advisory showed, which was requested for a period of 1 hour 10 minutes ending at 0000 GMT, according to the advisory.

Why were the Airlines grounded?

The Alaska airline grounded all its flights nationwide because of an "IT outage affecting operations."




"Alaska Airlines is experiencing an IT outage affecting operations. A temporary ground stop is in place. We apologize for the inconvenience," Alaska Airlines said in a statement issued on social media.



The airline was also responding on social media to customers who were posting concerns and complaints online.

"Unfortunately, we are experiencing an error on our system, but our IT team is working to get this resolved as soon as possible," it said, in response to an X user who asked if the airline's app was also having issues, Reuters reported.

According to the latest advisory from the FAA, Alaska Airlines flights departing from Seattle Tacoma International Airport were not affected. This is the second IT outage affecting the airline this year.

Alaska Airlines, which operates Hawaiian Airlines and Horizon Air, is one of the largest U.S. carriers, serving 140 destinations worldwide, including 37 states and 12 countries, according to its website.

CBS News reached out for clarification on whether the ground stop was affecting those two subsidiaries and has sought comment from the FAA. Air travel in the U.S. has experienced some stresses as a result of the govt shutdown that started at the beginning of October, with shortages of air traffic controllers causing flight delays at several airports.