US FAA issues ground stop advisory for Alaska Airlines

FILE PHOTO: Alaska Airlines commercial airplanes are shown parked off to the side of the airport in San Diego, California, U.S. January 18, 2024, as the the National Transportation Safety Board continues its investigation of the Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop advisory on Wednesday for Alaska Airlines, saying: “All Alaska mainline and subcarrier flights ground stopped.”

In a separate statement, the FAA said the carrier “asked the FAA to pause the airline’s mainline departures nationwide.” It did not provide a reason for the stoppage.

CNBC reported that the airline’s system used to calculate weight and balance for flights was not functioning correctly.

Alaska Airlines and the FAA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Responding to passenger complaints on social media platform X, the airline said it was working on getting people moving as soon as possible.

Shares of Alaska Air Group, which owns the airline, pared gains after the advisory, and were last up 2.2% at 11:13 ET (1513 GMT).

The FAA advisory said that flights for SkyWest, which provides regional service for Alaska Airlines and others, were excluded.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh, Ismail Shakil and Rajesh Kumar Singh; editing by Rami Ayyub)