An overnight computer system outage caused more than 8,300 delayed flights and 1,200 cancellations across the U.S, according to FlightAware, but no flights in or out of Juneau International Airport have been delayed, said airport manager Patty Wahto.
According to Wahto, upon checking in with Alaska Airlines soon after the announcement was made of the ground stop, the airline notified her that no Juneau flights have been affected, but she noted airport staff is monitoring the situation.
The outage occurred to the Federal Aviation Administration’s Notice to Air Missions computer system, which generates safety alerts and notices such as weather information, runway obstructions, or any other information that could affect the flight that is sent in real-time to pilots and airline dispatchers prior to takeoff.
“It’s all the information the pilot needs to come into the airport,” Wahto said.
The outage, which caused a ground stop, was lifted Wednesday morning, but the system outage effects are likely to ripple throughout Wednesday, according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
Amy Nye, along with her partner and two children, was on a layover at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport awaiting an early morning flight home to Juneau when at around 5 a.m. Nye said an announcement was made across airport loudspeakers which notified people that all flights were on a ground hold.
Nye, who sat at the Juneau International Airport mid-Wednesday morning with her family awaiting a ride, said she and her family were able to fly from Seattle back to Juneau without any trouble at around 7:30 a.m., but noted anecdotally it appeared that flights coming from the East Coast were much more affected than flights on the west coast.
Watho said beyond Alaska Airlines notification to the airport, she did not hear of any other local airlines advising delays or cancellations due to the outage.
“We will continue to monitor it and if there are delays, just understand the delays are for a reason and for safety,” Wahto said.
• Contact reporter Clarise Larson at clarise.larson@juneauempire.com or (651)-528-1807. Follow her on Twitter at @clariselarson.
