FAA lifts ground stop of Alaska Airlines flights after system issues resolved

An Alaska airlines Boeing 737 is taking off from Los Angeles International AirPort (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, on March 6, 2024. (Photo by Daniel SLIM / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images) ORIG FILE ID: 2056666360

The Federal Aviation Administration lifted a ground stop that applied to all Alaska Airlines and subcarrier flights after about an hour Wednesday. The order was first instituted because of a software issue at the airline.

“This morning we experienced an issue while performing an upgrade to the system that calculates our 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,” Alaska said in a statement to USA TODAY. “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.”

The ground stop did not apply to Alaska flights operated by regional carrier SkyWest.

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Although Alaska said it anticipates some delays throughout its system Wednesday as a result of the ground stop, as of 11:50 a.m. ET, the airline was not reporting any cancellations, according to FlightAware.

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FAA lifts ground stop of Alaska Airlines flights after system issues resolved