Alaska Airlines’ Cyber Monday sale causes major IT outage and flight disruption

Alaska Airlines has been forced to issue an apology to thousands of its customers after the launch of a ‘Cyber Monday’ online seat sale caused IT issues that impacted departing flights. The Seattle-based carrier acknowledged that demand for its sale had overwhelmed its IT systems which had subsequently knocked on to cause “significant operational disruption”, issuing public apologies through its website and social media platforms.

The airline first noticed a malfunction in its IT infrastructure on the morning of Monday, December 2, 2024, after its website crashed. The technology outage reportedly caused widespread service interruptions across the entire airline which affected its flight schedules and prevented customers from booking tickets through the website.

As a result of the ensuing chaos, the company was forced to implement a 40-minute-long ground stop at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) for safety reasons and to manage aircraft congestion. The ground-stop event happened in the middle of the morning peak period, as tens of thousands of travelers headed home after a record-breaking Thanksgiving travel weekend, effectively bringing all departures to a halt.

Alaska AirlinesWhile the airline has not yet released further details on the exact nature of the issue that caused the website to crash, the carrier publicly acknowledged that the IT problems had caused a substantial amount of travel disruption. A message on the company’s website stated that passengers were experiencing issues with booking flights on the carrier’s website, through the mobile app, and via its contact centers.

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

Alaska Airlines issued updates recommending travelers to verify flight statuses and consider rescheduling or canceling their flights if possible. While the operation difficulties appear to have been resolved fairly swiftly, the airline’s booking engine continued to be unstable and caused further issues into the afternoon of December 2, 2024.

Ian Dewar Photography / ShutterstockThe event is not the first time in recent months that the airline has been beset with IT issues affecting its flight operations. In September 2024, the carrier encountered another  IT outage that caused operational disruptions that temporarily grounded flights from Seattle and also impacted customer service channels. On that occasion, a ground stop was also implemented in Seattle which caused widespread service interruptions affecting flight bookings, mobile applications, and website functionality.

Meanwhile, in August 2024, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport itself was targeted by a cybersecurity breach. In that incident, the airport experienced a significant cyberattack where hackers demanded $6 million in Bitcoin for stolen documents. The Port of Seattle, which manages the airport, declined to pay the ransom, choosing instead to manage the breach’s aftermath. The event caused major disruption on one of the busiest days in US travel over the peak Labor Day holiday travel period.

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