Alaska Airlines Outage Grounds Fleet, Causes Delays at Medford Airport

Medford, Oregon- Alaska Airlines grounded all of its mainline and regional flights Sunday evening following a widespread information technology outage, disrupting air travel across the country, including at Rogue Valley International–Medford Airport.

The outage began around 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time and affected critical systems used for flight planning, crew communication, and passenger processing. As a result, the airline requested a full ground stop from the Federal Aviation Administration, which applied to all Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air flights.

At Medford airport, at least three evening arrivals have been impacted, including flights from Seattle and Los Angeles. Passengers experienced delays and cancellations as airline personnel were unable to access scheduling and gate systems.

Alaska Airlines operates multiple daily routes through Medford, primarily linking Southern Oregon with major Pacific Northwest hubs. With the IT failure extending system-wide, both Medford-bound and departing aircraft were held or grounded.

The airline operates 238 Boeing 737s and 87 Embraer 175 jets, all of which were affected. Flights already airborne were allowed to continue, but ground operations were halted as the outage continued into the evening.

The cause of the disruption has not been confirmed. There is no indication yet whether the failure stemmed from a software malfunction, third-party infrastructure, or a cybersecurity issue. A similar IT disruption impacted Hawaiian Airlines, an Alaska Air Group subsidiary, in June, though no connection has been reported.

As of late Sunday night, Alaska Airlines reported continued efforts to restore system functionality. Travelers were advised to monitor flight status updates and expect delays into Monday.

No safety incidents were reported in connection with the outage.

This article will be updated as new information becomes available.

Update: Alaska has lifted the stoppage and flights have resumed. All previously impacted Alaska evening flights into MFR, arrived by 2:00am.