Alaska Airlines grounds all flights nationwide due to tech outage

All Alaska Airlines flights were suspended Thursday evening due to a tech outage.

The airline said in a statement provided to CBS News that it was “experiencing an IT outage affecting operations” and had “issued a temporary ground stop.” It did not elaborate on the nature of the outage or how long it might last. The exact number of impacted flights was also unclear.

Ground stops are issued by the Federal Aviation Administration, often at the request of airlines.

Alaska Airlines also operates Hawaiian Airlines and Horizon Air. CBS News reached out for clarification on whether the ground stop was affecting those two subsidiaries. CBS News has also reached out to the FAA for comment.

Alaska Airlines, one of the largest U.S. carriers, is primarily centered on the West Coast, but services 140 destinations worldwide, including 37 states and 12 countries, according to its website.

Air travel in the U.S. has experienced some stresses as a result of the government shutdown that started at the beginning of the October, with shortages of air traffic controllers causing flight delays at several airports.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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