- The airline reported a problem with a system that calculates weight and balance
- The FAA ordered a ground stop for all Alaska and Horizon flights
An hour-long ground layover on all Alaska Airlines flights caused travel chaos among passengers Wednesday, delaying its entire fleet and spreading fears about travel among passengers.
The US Federal Aviation Administration issued a grounding notice for the airline around 7:30 a.m. Pacific Time, writing: “All Alaska mainline and secondary line flights have been stopped in land”.
While the agency declined to provide a reason for the notice, ALaska Airlines reported encountering a problem updating the software.
“This morning we experienced an issue performing an update to the system that calculates our weight and balance,” the airlines said in a statement to DailyMail.com.
‘A ground stop was instituted for all Alaska and Horizon flights at approximately 7:30 a.m. PT. The issue was mitigated and the ground stop for the Alaska and Horizon flights expired at 8:30 a.m. PT.’
The US Federal Aviation Administration suspended all Alaska Airlines flights on Wednesday (file photo)
According to the airline, the problem was due to a software update to a weight and balance calculation system on planes.
Alaska confirmed the advisory was lifted at 8:30 Pacific Time, but delays were expected to continue.
Furious customers took to social media to express their frustrations over the unexpected delays.
One man proclaimed: “@SpiritAirlines sounds better right now.”
The airline confirmed that it had begun releasing flights, although residual delays were anticipated throughout the day.
Flights by SkyWest, which provides regional service for Alaska Airlines and others, were excluded from the ground stop.
Customers took to social media to protest the unexpected service disruptions.
‘Airplane crew; You can disembark, just stay near the door. Gate staff: they cannot get off the plane. Back and forth,” wrote a woman on X, formerly Twitter.
‘Everyone has been using sound devices but there is no communication between the plane and the boarding gate. We board again and the pilot tells the passenger “you can go have a coffee.”
Another man called the airline and demanded that they explain the reason for the delays.
‘I’ve been sitting on this plane for 2 hours! “It was supposed to be a 3 hour flight,” he wrote. “@SpiritAirlines sounds better right now.”
Another passenger reported that his flight had been stopped at the gate in Austin, Texas, for nearly three hours.
“It was supposed to leave at 8:30 am (CDT) and we are still sitting on our plane at 11:06 am,” he wrote.
Alaska’s fleet of 314 aircraft is comprised of 231 Boeing 737 aircraft and 83 Embraer 175 aircraft.
Earlier this year, the airline was forced to cancel thousands of flights after a door plug on a 737 Max 9 exploded shortly after takeoff.
After a thorough inspection, the aircraft were cleared to resume flights. Boeing shelled out $160 million earlier this month to offset losses the airline had suffered.