Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Around 130 flights were canceled and delays successful nan metropolis that serves arsenic nan hub for Alaska Airlines near Seattle a messiness and it came amid a awesome tech meltdown successful nan US arsenic formation operations person restarted but disruption lingers and thousands person been affected. The incident occurred abruptly complete nan weekend, crippling Seattle-Tacoma International Airport pinch Alaska Airlines planes idle astatine nan gates and chaos spreading done terminals. And arsenic services return slowly, nan ripple effects proceed crossed each nan airlines, stranding passengers pinch nary measurement to beryllium rebooked and a spotlight connected nan unit connected systems that were already stretched thin.
Seattle Hit Hard arsenic Alaska Airlines Grounded
The chaos began precocious Saturday, July 20, erstwhile Alaska Airlines knowledgeable a terrible system-wide IT failure. By 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time, operations were frozen, forcing a complete crushed extremity that near thousands of travelers stranded successful terminals. According to airdrome data, 71 cancellations and 446 delays were reported astatine SEA-TAC connected Sunday alone. As of now, disruptions continued, pinch 76 much flights cancelled and 180 delayed, bringing nan two-day cancellation full to astir 130 flights.
Alaska Airlines bore nan brunt of nan crisis, accounting for 64 cancellations and 122 delays arsenic of now, and 54 cancellations and 206 delays connected Sunday. The carrier’s integer infrastructure—responsible for booking, check-in, formation dispatch, and baggage handling—was crippled, paralyzing some home and world operations.
A Nationwide Tech Collapse
But this was acold from an isolated issue. Alaska Airlines was joined successful nan fallout by different awesome carriers including American, Delta, Southwest, United, and Qantas. All faced disruptions triggered by what experts are now calling a nationwide tech meltdown, pinch failures stemming from cardinal formation power and customer work systems.
The breakdown was truthful terrible that moreover check-in kiosks and departure screens went acheronian successful galore terminals, causing disorder and panic among travelers. The rumor extended crossed aggregate U.S. airports, disrupting operations seashore to seashore and highlighting really limited modern aerial recreation has go connected integer systems.
Global Ripple Effects
Though nan worst impacts were felt successful nan U.S., world travelers were not spared. Long-haul flights were delayed aliases rerouted, and transpacific services connecting Asia, Australia, and North America were thrown disconnected schedule. Qantas, Australia’s flagship airline, confirmed wide disturbances, while U.S.-bound flights from Europe knowledgeable lengthy delays astatine root points.
The ripple effect dispersed into different areas of nan recreation economy. Hotels adjacent SEA-TAC quickly filled arsenic stranded passengers sought accommodations. Rental car request spiked, and agelong lines were seen astatine hose work desks. Business and leisure travelers alike were forced to reschedule plans, pinch galore facing hours—or moreover days—of delays.
Not nan First, and Not nan Last
This latest incident is portion of a troubling inclination of awesome IT failures affecting airlines. In June 2025, American Airlines faced a akin breakdown, impacting operations crossed Miami, Charlotte, and Dallas. Just a twelvemonth earlier, successful July 2024, Delta Airlines was forced to cancel complete 7,000 flights owed to a grounded package update by a third-party cybersecurity provider, costing nan institution an estimated $500 cardinal successful losses. Southwest Airlines besides knowledgeable a superior glitch successful May 2024 that delayed astir 1,400 flights.
Even United Airlines was swept up successful nan chaos past year, though it managed a quicker betterment than its competitors. Qantas, for its part, suffered a monolithic information breach affecting 5.7 cardinal customers earlier this month—proof that whether nan disruption is operational aliases security-related, nary hose is immune to nan increasing integer risks.
Calls for Reform and Resilience
The events successful Seattle person reignited conversations astir integer resilience successful nan aviation sector. While exertion has undoubtedly made aerial recreation much efficient, it has besides introduced a vulnerable azygous constituent of failure. When systems spell down, nan results tin beryllium catastrophic—not conscionable for airlines, but for millions of passengers and full location economies.
Industry experts and authorities regulators are urging airlines to put much heavy successful robust backup systems, cybersecurity infrastructure, and real-time failovers to forestall a repetition of this scenario. Several U.S. senators person called for legislature hearings to analyse hose tech vulnerabilities and accountability standards for third-party vendors.
Cancelled Departures from Seattle-Tacoma Intl Airport
ASA478 | Harry Reid Intl | Mon | 06:50PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1150 | Hollywood Burbank Airport | Mon | 12:48PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1114 | San Jose Int’l | Mon | 12:09PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA722 | Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl | Mon | 11:44AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA925 | Vancouver Int’l | Mon | 11:44AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA900 | Reno/Tahoe Intl | Mon | 11:40AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1328 | San Francisco Bay Oakland Intl | Mon | 11:31AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1278 | Ontario Intl | Mon | 10:47AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1256 | Palm Springs Intl | Mon | 10:21AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA101 | Ketchikan Intl | Mon | 09:53AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA502 | Austin-Bergstrom Intl | Mon | 09:03AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1190 | John Wayne | Mon | 09:00AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA4 | Reagan National | Mon | 08:34AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1254 | Ontario Intl | Mon | 08:27AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA305 | Miami Intl | Mon | 08:25AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1290 | Hollywood Burbank Airport | Mon | 08:00AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA797 | Los Angeles Intl | Mon | 07:00AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA61 | Juneau Intl | Mon | 07:00AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA542 | Dallas-Fort Worth Intl | Mon | 12:25AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA464 | Hartsfield-Jackson Intl | Sun | 11:59PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA452 | Houston Bush Int’ctl | Sun | 11:59PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA112 | Fairbanks Intl | Sun | 11:50PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA328 | Chicago O’Hare Intl | Sun | 11:40PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA423 | San Antonio Intl | Sun | 11:36PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA394 | Orlando Intl | Sun | 11:05PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA498 | Portland Intl | Sun | 11:03PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA119 | Anchorage Intl | Sun | 10:59PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA360 | Tampa Intl | Sun | 10:58PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA185 | Juneau Intl | Sun | 10:55PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA959 | Spokane Intl | Sun | 10:52PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA924 | Roberts Fld | Sun | 10:48PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA161 | Mahlon Sweet Fld | Sun | 10:47PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA115 | Fairbanks Intl | Sun | 09:59PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1230 | Sacramento Intl | Sun | 09:45PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1152 | San Francisco Bay Oakland Intl | Sun | 09:44PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA636 | Harry Reid Intl | Sun | 09:18PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA91 | Sitka Rocky Gutierrez | Sun | 09:15PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1264 | San Diego Intl | Sun | 09:03PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA133 | Anchorage Intl | Sun | 08:55PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1050 | San Francisco Int’l | Sun | 08:26PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1156 | San Diego Intl | Sun | 08:25PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1034 | Gowen Field | Sun | 08:14PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA136 | Anchorage Intl | Sun | 07:55PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1224 | Los Angeles Intl | Sun | 07:55PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA167 | Fairbanks Intl | Sun | 07:50PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA205 | Juneau Intl | Sun | 07:36PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA839 | Lihue | Sun | 06:45PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1310 | San Jose Int’l | Sun | 06:36PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA823 | Daniel K Inouye Intl | Sun | 06:25PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA805 | Kahului | Sun | 06:25PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA424 | Dallas-Fort Worth Intl | Sun | 05:59PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA960 | Spokane Intl | Sun | 05:43PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA382 | Nashville Intl | Sun | 05:43PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA962 | Spokane Intl | Sun | 04:03PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1257 | John Wayne | Sun | 03:38PM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA438 | Houston Bush Int’ctl | Sun | 11:45AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA480 | Minneapolis/St Paul Intl | Sun | 10:25AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1254 | Ontario Intl | Sun | 08:27AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
ASA1082 | San Francisco Int’l | Sun | 07:05AM PDT | Cancelled Departure from SEA |
Around 130 flights were cancelled and galore delayed owed to a awesome tech meltdown that paralyzed Seattle, nan hub of Alaska Airlines, disrupting operations and stranding thousands of passengers. Although flights person resumed, nan strategy nonaccomplishment continues to origin wide delays crossed nan U.S. aviation network.
A Long Road to Recovery
Although Alaska Airlines has resumed astir of its operations, and postulation is slow returning to normal astatine Seattle-Tacoma, nan backlog of passengers and disrupted formation schedules will return days to afloat resolve. Many travelers are still waiting to beryllium rebooked, and customer work centers stay overwhelmed.
For now, nan skies whitethorn beryllium clearing—but nan manufacture faces large wind clouds up if swift action isn’t taken to upgrade and unafraid nan integer backbone of U.S. aviation.