An Alaskan Airlines ground stoppage has been canceled.
Within the past hour, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ground stop advisory for Alaska Airlines, saying in an alert: "All Alaska mainline and subcarrier flights ground stopped."
Wednesday's advisory was due to a technological issue, according to Alaska Airlines officials, and flights are resuming though some delays are expected.
It excluded SkyWest, which provides regional service for Alaska Airlines and others.
No reasoning in the alert was originally provided for the grounding.
The Context
"Alaska Airlines asked the FAA to pause the airline's mainline departures nationwide," the FAA told Newsweek via email.
It later provided an update: "Operations are normal after Alaska Airlines asked the FAA to pause departures nationwide."
An Alaska Airlines spokesperson told Newsweek via email that they experienced an issue this morning while performing an upgrade to the system that calculates their planes' weight and balance.
"Out of an abundance of caution, we requested a ground stop for all Alaska and Horizon flights, which was instituted at approximately 7:30 a.m. PT," the airline said. "The issue was mitigated and the ground stop for Alaska and Horizon flights expired at 8:30 a.m. PT.
"We have begun releasing flights. Residual delays are expected throughout the day. We apologize for the inconvenience and encourage guests to check the status of their flights on alaskaair.com or the Alaska App prior to heading to the airport."
What We Know
Alaska Airlines has garnered heavy scrutiny after a window panel on one of their flights traveling from Portland, Oregon to Ontario, California broke away a few minutes after take-off on January 5.
Alaska Airlines flight 1282 successfully made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport after the section of fuselage broke away mid-flight.
The plane took off from 5:06 p.m. local time on Friday, reaching an altitude of 16,325 feet. It landed safely at 5:26 p.m. No injuries of passengers and crew onboard have been reported.
That affected plane was delivered to Alaska Airlines on October 31 last year.
It led to a grounding of the airline's fleet of Boeing 737 MAX-9 planes, drawing an apology from CEO Ben Minicucci.
But legal action remains ongoing, including a suit filed by six Alaska Airlines fliers and a relative against Boeing, the maker of the 737 MAX 9 aircraft, on behalf of all 171 on board the flight.
One woman "experienced so much pressure she thought her head would explode," the suit said.
Boeing whistleblower Sam Salehpour called for Boeing to ground its entire fleet of 787 Dreamliner jets over safety issues, ahead of a Senate hearing today.
A consumer lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in Hawaii by eight airline passengers from Hawaii, California and other states, some of whom are former travel agents, claims that Alaska Airlines' proposed $1.9 billion acquisition of rival Hawaiian Airlines will lead to higher prices, job layoffs and fewer flights, according to CNBC.
Update 04/17/24, 12:04 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from the FAA, Alaska Airlines and more information.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Nick Mordowanec is a Newsweek reporter based in Michigan. His focus is reporting on Ukraine and Russia, along with social ... Read more
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