Alaska Airlines' Technology Turbulence Grounds Flights

Alaska Airlines faced a significant technology outage that led to the grounding and cancellation of over 229 flights. The airline is working to restore operations and has delayed its earnings call. Concerns arose around a potential impact on fourth-quarter results amidst rising fuel costs and operational challenges.

Alaska Airlines announced that it has restored operations after a technology outage grounded flights across all airports, resulting in more than 229 cancellations. The company's shares fell by 5.4% in early trading as the airline worked to minimize further disruptions.

On Thursday evening, a temporary ground stop was requested by the airline, which also affected its subsidiary, Horizon Air. The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed that the halt ended at 11:30 p.m. local on Friday. Alaska Airlines noted that the issue was due to a system outage, not cyber attacks.

Amidst customer queries about booking issues, the airline assured that its IT team is resolving system errors as quickly as possible. Despite predicting lower fourth-quarter profits, partly due to high fuel costs, Alaska Airlines postponed its earnings call initially set for October 24.

(With inputs from agencies.)