Alaska Airlines tech issue briefly grounds planes in Seattle, disrupts bookings on Cyber Monday

SEATTLE (AP) — A technology issue at Alaska Airlines resulted in the temporary grounding of flights in Seattle on Monday morning and problems into the afternoon for people trying to book flights on its website, the airline said.

The Seattle-based company said in a statement the issue Monday morning resulted in a “significant disruption” to its operation — including delayed flights. The airline said it requested a 40-minute ground stop at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to clear aircraft congestion.

No further details were given about the technology problem, and the reason for the disruptions was unclear.

A message on the company's website Monday afternoon said it was experiencing issues with booking flights on the website, through a mobile app and at the contact center.

“We sincerely apologize to our guests who are impacted and are working to resolve the issue as soon as possible,” the statement said.

The problems came at the start of the company's Cyber Monday flight sale. In comments from its account on X to customers complaining of missed flights, delays and problems using the airline’s app and website, the carrier also apologized.

In late September, Alaska Airlines flights were grounded in Seattle because of what the company called significant disruptions from an unspecified technology problem.