Alaska Airlines grounded after FAA advisory

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded Alaska Airlines planes for about an hour Wednesday morning.

“All Alaska mainline and subcarrier flights have grounded,” the FAA said around 7:40 a.m. Wednesday. It was lifted around 8:30 p.m.

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The only exclusion was for SkyWest, which provides regional service to Alaska Airlines and others.

Alaska Air released this statement regarding the ground stop:

This morning we encountered an issue upgrading the system that calculates our weight and balance. A ground stop for all Alaska and Horizon flights was instituted around 7:50 a.m. We are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience and encourage customers to check the status of their flights on alaskaair.com or the Alaska app before traveling to the airport.

A “ground stop” is a traffic management initiative requiring aircraft that meet specific criteria to remain on the ground at their originating airport.

Shannon took a flight to Alaska from SeaTac Airport Wednesday morning. She didn’t hear about the ground stop, but said it didn’t ruin her travel plans.

“I was a little late so I said ‘thanks’ for being late,” she laughed.

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As of midday Wednesday, nearly 150 Alaska and Horizon flights were experiencing delays at SeaTac Airport, according to FlightAware. Shannon said it was a surprise to her.

“My flight is delayed about 45 minutes,” she told KIRO Newsradio. “And even that is very strange, because usually when Alaska is late, it’s about 10 or 15 minutes.”

Dave Young, another Alaska passenger, said he generally has no problems with the airline’s service.

“The only really tough time we had was in January, with a trip to Hawaii,” he said. “They had to constantly change planes.”

In January, Alaska Airlines came under scrutiny after a plane’s door plug exploded in mid-flight over Portland.

The airline says the software system issue that triggered this ground stop is resolved and there are no safety concerns with any aircraft.

The company asked people with reservations to check the status of their flights on alaskaair.com.

You can read more stories from Kate Stone here. Follow Kate on X, formerly known as TwitterOr send him an email here.
Bill Kaczaraba is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here. Follow Bill on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and send him an email here.