Alaska Airlines requests grounding of fleet citing 'IT outage'
The airline told AFP that on Sunday it "experienced an IT outage that's impacting our operations" and that it "requested a temporary, system-wide ground stop for Alaska and Horizon Air flights until the issue is resolved."
The FAA status page showed all destinations being impacted by the ground stop of Alaska's mainline aircraft.
It did not immediately respond to AFP's requests for comment.
Alaska Airlines apologized for the disruption, urging travelers to check their flight status before heading to the airport.
"We apologize to our guests for this inconvenience," it said in a statement.
"There will be residual impacts to our operation throughout the evening."
The statement, also posted on X, drew a backlash from what appeared to be frustrated passengers.
"This is brutal. We've been sitting at the airport for two hours," wrote an X user named Caleb Heimlich in reply.
Another user, BetterDays, commented: "This started at 8 pm & you're just posting this now?! Your service has gone way down over the last 5 years."
The incident comes more than a year after a door plug section of a newly delivered Boeing 737 Max 9 blew out during an Alaska Airlines flight between Portland, Oregon and Ontario, California in January last year.
The 171 passengers and six crew members survived the rapid decompression, but the incident focused minds at the FAA, which grounded many Boeing 737-9 aircraft operated by US airlines.
Last month, US investigators said Boeing's failure to provide adequate training to manufacturing staff was a driving factor in the near-catastrophic Alaska Airlines mid-flight blowout.
Alaska Air Group has a fleet of 325 aircraft, comprising 238 Boeing 737 planes and 87 Embraer 175 aircraft, according to its website.
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Forbes
42 minutes ago
- Forbes
Narrow-Body Electric Aircraft Not A Fantasy, Says European Startup
Elysian Aircraft's narrow-body single aisle E9X electric airplane model concept. In a bid to reduce its carbon footprint, the global aviation industry is taking serious notice of the concept of electric aircraft. However, existing battery technology and limitations mean most startups attempting it are unable to offer high passenger capacity concepts capable of being industry scale game-changers. That's until now. For in the shadow of Schiphol Airport, one of Europe's busiest travel hubs in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, one startup – Elysian Aircraft – is busy working on a viable concept for a narrow-body single aisle electric plane capable of carrying 90 passengers over 500 miles on a single charge. Elysian calls it the E9X and has an ambition for the aircraft's service entry in the first half of the next decade. It could give airlines a workable passenger capacity for low-to-zero short-haul flights that is just around half that of a Boeing 737-800 or Airbus A320 aircraft. That makes Elysian standout in a crowded field of zero carbon aircraft developers but also courts intense skepticism. For starters, none of the company's peers are offering concepts with such a high passenger capacity. U.S.-U.K. start-up ZeroAvia has a 19-seater nearing service, while German startup Vaeridion is well advanced on a 9-seater microliner. Many others are finding it difficult to just stay in the game. Italy's Tecnam put its electric aircraft concept on hold in 2023 after three-years of trying. Germany's Volocopter recently initiated insolvency proceedings before surviving courtesy of a new buyer, and Lilium — an electric air-taxi startup — shut down after its second insolvency this year. So, how will Elysian be different in its attempt to build something no one else is? By doing the simple things right, addressing challenging aspects of the aircraft design or 'hot potatoes' and subjecting it proof of concept to rigorous expert scrutiny, Elysian co-founders Daniel Rosen Jacobson (co-CEO), Reynard de Vries (chief engineer) and Rob Wolleswinkel (co-CEO and chief technology officer) said in a joint interview. Proof Of Concept And 'Hot Potatoes' 'Before we emerged out of the shadows and took our idea fully public in 2024, we could see both the skepticism as well as attempts by others at smaller aircraft. We are nothing but grateful to these industry peers for putting themselves out there and bringing electric aviation into view. However, to make a meaningful environmental impact, there's simply no option but to go for a higher capacity aircraft,' Wolleswinkel said. Comparison of Elysian Aircraft's E9X concept electric airplane versus a Boeing 737-800 with ... More measurements. In fact, Elysian started initial work on the concept in 2020, with research, ideation and calculations, ultimately coming up with its proof of concept. This was then subjected to academic scrutiny by third-party aircraft design experts at the Delft University of Technology. 'They reverted to us describing our concept as very promising. Subsequently, in 2021, Panta Holdings, one of our main investors, came on board with seed funding. By the second half of 2022, we had come up with a design as we know it.' Thereafter, being their own harshest critics, the co-founders entered what Wolleswinkel described as a phase of risk reduction. 'We highlighted ten 'hot potatoes' – or harsh technical problems that we needed to research and mitigate to succeed. Not only did we work on these internally at Elysian, but also outsourced them to some of the finest minds in aerospace, academia and engineering. Nearly all of them have now been addressed bringing our risk reduction phase to a close.' Subsequently, the startup has now entered a preliminary and detailed design phase, added de Vries. 'Since October 2024, we have been ramping up Elysian's capabilities with our team going up from the three of us (co-founders) to around 30, of which 80% are engineers.' And Jacobson added: 'While there's much work to be done, the switch from risk reduction phase to the detailed design phase meant we were confident in taking our E9X concept aircraft public, as we have done.' The results are not what most people would visually imagine. The E9X's current design will have eight propeller engines or four on each wing, with a propeller diameter length of 3.7 meters. Batteries located in the wing-box will power each of the eight 1.3 megawatt electric motors running the propellers. The aircraft will have a wingspan of almost 138 feet or just over 42 meters. This will be around 20 feet more than existing narrow-body single aisle jets like the Boeing 737-800 (see illustration). However, the E9X will also have a comparatively thinner fuselage. de Vries explained: 'The latter design aspect will potentially improve both the structural and aerodynamic characteristics. We are now nearing the completion of version II of the E9X's design. Version I of the design is solid but we are simply making some updates around the volume of the wing. The principles underlying it remain the same.' Tackling Range Anxiety The key thing for E9X's next stage of development is that Elysian will only focus a small part of its existing resources on the total aircraft. 'The majority of our resources will be on underlying technology bricks. Because, in order to design, build and ultimately mass produce this aircraft – we need to build these technology bricks further,' Wolleswinkel said. Central to these bricks is the integration of the batteries into the E9X's wing and their power distribution into the motors, and Elysian's concept of distributed electric propulsion via eight propellers. 'This is what we are truly focused on. The landing gear, cockpit and pressurization, and ancillary avionics mechanisms are all the same as with any aircraft and have been done for many years now. They do not require a reinvention of the wheel.' As for the range, Elysian remains confident of hitting its 500 miles target. It also hopes the aircraft would be ready for a turnaround with a recharge time of 45 mins or less. There are also plans for a turbogenerator in the rear fuselage to provide an additional 45 minute power reserve, should it be needed. Elysian Aircraft co-founders Daniel Rosen Jacobson (left), Reynard de Vries (middle) and Rob ... More Wolleswinkel (right). Wolleswinkel, a qualified pilot himself, said that electric aviation or aviation in general is where the real travel range anxiety exists. 'We often talk of improved battery technology and range anxieties for automobiles. Current technology exists that allows some electric vehicles to around 400 miles. But who would drive such distances without stopping for a rest? 'The same is not true for aviation, where range capabilities define aircraft types. Elysian will never drop the ball on this one. The range we are currently predicting for our aircraft is not just based on current assessment, but also on where battery technology might well be by the end of this decade.' Elysian is also placing a heavy emphasis on industry and engineering collaborations as its journey progresses. It announced a partnership with Spanish aerostructures supplier Aernnova at this year's Paris Air Show in June, to begin initial wing development studies incorporating batteries. The startup was also in the aviation sector's spotlight when it recently launched a 'knowledge-sharing initiative to accelerate battery-electric aviation development' with Dutch flag carrier KLM, and its low-cost airline subsidiary Transavia. Academic partnerships with several universities remain strong. Elysian also shares its current premises with Fokker Services, a unit of the Dutch legacy aircraft maker, acquired in 2021 by the startup's backer Panta Holdings. The co-founders remain amenable to calling on Fokker Services' neighborly expertise on certification and design 'in due course.' Deep Pockets Needed Overall, Elysian exudes cautious optimism in finding its aviation horizon. 'We remain on track for building the EX9 prototype by 2030, and its service entry by 2033,' Jacobson said. 'Our conversations with many airlines have been very encouraging. It is our belief that E9X will emerge as the cheapest clean aviation option on a cost per mile basis, when pitted against other alternatives such as hydrogen fuel cell, hydrogen turbine planes and sustainable aviation fuels.' While Elysian's KLM and Transavia collaboration is in public domain, Jacobson said the startup was in talks with around ten airlines. However, Elysian's commercial flightpath ahead will likely have turbulence. If the prototype is successful, it will have to fight incumbency of existing narrow-body single aisle aircraft that have an operating life of decades not years. Airports will also need to make infrastructural changes and bring in charging systems, and many may resist. 'There is always resistance to change. Ultimately, we believe battery-electric aircraft like ours can replace 50% of current short-haul flights around the world bringing about a massive cut in carbon emissions,' Wolleswinkel said. Apart from a determination to succeed, Elysian will also need deep pockets. Jacobson noted that the development and construction of the prototype will cost around $350 million, and that a further $10 billion will likely be required to test, certify and produce the aircraft on initial orders. 'Naturally, we will seek a major investor at some stage. Right now, we are focused on our Series A funding that is expected to close by the end of this quarter. We remain committed to our efforts, confident in our product offering, and, most importantly, our belief that zero carbon electric aircraft are the future of the aviation industry.'
4 hours ago
Trump's trip to Scotland as his new golf course opens blurs politics and the family's business
EDINBURGH, Scotland -- Lashed by cold winds and overlooking choppy, steel-gray North Sea waters, the breathtaking sand dunes of Scotland's northeastern coast rank among Donald Trump 's favorite spots on earth. 'At some point, maybe in my very old age, I'll go there and do the most beautiful thing you've ever seen," Trump said in 2023, during his New York civil fraud trial, talking about his plans for future developments on his property in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire. At 79 and back in the White House, Trump is making at least part of that pledge a reality, traveling to Scotland on Friday as his family's business prepares for the Aug. 13 opening of a new course it is billing as 'the greatest 36 holes in golf." While there, Trump will talk trade with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a meeting he's said will take place at 'probably one of my properties.' The Aberdeen area is already home to another of his courses, Trump International Scotland, and the president also plans to visit a Trump course near Turnberry, around 200 miles (320 kilometers) away on Scotland's southwest coast. Using this week's presidential overseas trip — with its sprawling entourage of advisers, White House and support staffers, Secret Service agents and reporters — to help show off Trump-brand golf destinations demonstrates how the president has become increasingly comfortable intermingling his governing pursuits with promoting his family's business interests. The White House has brushed off questions about potential conflicts of interest, arguing that Trump's business success before he entered politics was a key to his appeal with voters. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers called the Scotland swing a 'working trip." But she added that Trump 'has built the best and most beautiful world-class golf courses anywhere in the world, which is why they continue to be used for prestigious tournaments and by the most elite players in the sport.' Trump went to Scotland to play his Turnberry course during his first term in 2018 while en route to a meeting in Finland with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This time, his trip comes as the new golf course is about to debut and is already actively selling tee times. It's not cheap for the president to travel. The helicopters that operate as Marine One when the president is on board cost between $16,700 and nearly $20,000 per hour to operate, according to Pentagon data for fiscal year 2022. The modified Boeing 747s that serve as the iconic Air Force One cost about $200,000 per hour to fly. That's not to mention the military cargo aircraft that fly ahead of the president with his armored limousines and other official vehicles. 'We're at a point where the Trump administration is so intertwined with the Trump business that he doesn't seem to see much of a difference,' said Jordan Libowitz, vice president and spokesperson for the ethics watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. 'It's as if the White House were almost an arm of the Trump Organization.' During his first term, the Trump Organization signed an ethics pact barring deals with foreign companies. An ethics frameworks for Trump's second term allows them. Trump's assets are in a trust run by his children, who are also handling day-to-day operations of the Trump Organization while he's in the White House. The company has inked many recent, lucrative foreign agreements involving golf courses, including plans to build luxury developments in Qatar and Vietnam, even as the administration continues to negotiate tariff rates for those countries and around the globe. Trump's existing Aberdeenshire course, meanwhile, has a history nearly as rocky as the area's cliffs. It has struggled to turn a profit and was found by Scottish conservation authorities to have partially destroyed nearby sand dunes. Trump's company also was ordered to cover the Scottish government's legal costs after the course unsuccessfully sued over the construction of a nearby wind farm, arguing in part that it hurt golfers' views. And the development was part of the massive civil case, which accused Trump of inflating his wealth to secure loans and make business deals. Trump's company's initial plans for his first Aberdeen-area course called for a luxury hotel and nearby housing. His company received permission to build 500 houses, but Trump suggested he'd be allowed to build five times as many and borrowed against their values without actually building any homes, the lawsuit alleged. Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump liable last year and ordered his company to pay $355 million in fines — a judgment that has grown with interest to more than $510 million as Trump appeals. Family financial interests aside, Trump isn't the first sitting U.S. president to golf in Scotland. That was Dwight D. Eisenhower, who played in Turnberry in 1959. George W. Bush visited the famed course at Gleneagles in 2005 but didn't play. Many historians trace golf back to Scotland in the Middle Ages. Among the earliest known references to game was a Scottish Parliament resolution in 1457 that tried to ban it, along with soccer, because of fears both were distracting men from practicing archery — then considered vital to national defense. The first U.S. president to golf regularly was William Howard Taft, who served from 1909 to 1913 and ignored warnings from his predecessor, Teddy Roosevelt, that playing too much would make it seem like he wasn't working hard enough. Woodrow Wilson played nearly every day but Sundays, and even had the Secret Service paint his golf balls red so he could practice in the snow, said Mike Trostel, director of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Warren G. Harding trained his dog Laddie Boy to fetch golf balls while he practiced. Lyndon B. Johnson's swing was sometimes described as looking like a man trying to kill a rattlesnake. Bill Clinton, who liked to joke that he was the only president whose game improved while in office, restored a putting green on the White House's South Lawn. It was originally installed by Eisenhower, who was such an avid user that he left cleat marks in the wooden floors of the Oval Office by the door leading out to it. Bush stopped golfing after the start of the Iraq war in 2003 because of the optics. Barack Obama had a golf simulator installed in the White House that Trump upgraded during his first term, Trostel said. John F. Kennedy largely hid his love of the game as president, but he played on Harvard's golf team and nearly made a hole-in-one at California's renowned Cypress Point Golf Club just before the 1960 Democratic National Convention. 'I'd say, between President Trump and President John F. Kennedy, those are two of the most skilled golfers we've had in the White House,' Trostel said. Trump, Trostel said, has a handicap index — how many strokes above par a golfer is likely to score — of a very strong 2.5, though he's not posted an official round with the U.S. Golf Association since 2021. That's better than Joe Biden's handicap of 6.7, which also might be outdated, and Obama, who once described his own handicap as an 'honest 13.' The White House described Trump as a championship-level golfer but said he plays with no handicap.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump's trip to Scotland as his new golf course opens blurs politics and the family's business
EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Lashed by cold winds and overlooking choppy, steel-gray North Sea waters, the breathtaking sand dunes of Scotland's northeastern coast rank among Donald Trump 's favorite spots on earth. 'At some point, maybe in my very old age, I'll go there and do the most beautiful thing you've ever seen," Trump said in 2023, during his New York civil fraud trial, talking about his plans for future developments on his property in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire. At 79 and back in the White House, Trump is making at least part of that pledge a reality, traveling to Scotland on Friday as his family's business prepares for the Aug. 13 opening of a new course it is billing as 'the greatest 36 holes in golf." While there, Trump will talk trade with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a meeting he's said will take place at 'probably one of my properties.' The Aberdeen area is already home to another of his courses, Trump International Scotland, and the president also plans to visit a Trump course near Turnberry, around 200 miles (320 kilometers) away on Scotland's southwest coast. Using this week's presidential overseas trip — with its sprawling entourage of advisers, White House and support staffers, Secret Service agents and reporters — to help show off Trump-brand golf destinations demonstrates how the president has become increasingly comfortable intermingling his governing pursuits with promoting his family's business interests. The White House has brushed off questions about potential conflicts of interest, arguing that Trump's business success before he entered politics was a key to his appeal with voters. White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers called the Scotland swing a 'working trip." But she added that Trump 'has built the best and most beautiful world-class golf courses anywhere in the world, which is why they continue to be used for prestigious tournaments and by the most elite players in the sport.' Trump family's new golf course has tee times for sale Trump went to Scotland to play his Turnberry course during his first term in 2018 while en route to a meeting in Finland with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This time, his trip comes as the new golf course is about to debut and is already actively selling tee times. It's not cheap for the president to travel. The helicopters that operate as Marine One when the president is on board cost between $16,700 and nearly $20,000 per hour to operate, according to Pentagon data for fiscal year 2022. The modified Boeing 747s that serve as the iconic Air Force One cost about $200,000 per hour to fly. That's not to mention the military cargo aircraft that fly ahead of the president with his armored limousines and other official vehicles. 'We're at a point where the Trump administration is so intertwined with the Trump business that he doesn't seem to see much of a difference,' said Jordan Libowitz, vice president and spokesperson for the ethics watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. 'It's as if the White House were almost an arm of the Trump Organization.' During his first term, the Trump Organization signed an ethics pact barring deals with foreign companies. An ethics frameworks for Trump's second term allows them. Trump's assets are in a trust run by his children, who are also handling day-to-day operations of the Trump Organization while he's in the White House. The company has inked many recent, lucrative foreign agreements involving golf courses, including plans to build luxury developments in Qatar and Vietnam, even as the administration continues to negotiate tariff rates for those countries and around the globe. Trump's first Aberdeen course has sparked legal battles Trump's existing Aberdeenshire course, meanwhile, has a history nearly as rocky as the area's cliffs. It has struggled to turn a profit and was found by Scottish conservation authorities to have partially destroyed nearby sand dunes. Trump's company also was ordered to cover the Scottish government's legal costs after the course unsuccessfully sued over the construction of a nearby wind farm, arguing in part that it hurt golfers' views. And the development was part of the massive civil case, which accused Trump of inflating his wealth to secure loans and make business deals. Trump's company's initial plans for his first Aberdeen-area course called for a luxury hotel and nearby housing. His company received permission to build 500 houses, but Trump suggested he'd be allowed to build five times as many and borrowed against their values without actually building any homes, the lawsuit alleged. Judge Arthur Engoron found Trump liable last year and ordered his company to pay $355 million in fines — a judgment that has grown with interest to more than $510 million as Trump appeals. Golfers-in-chief Family financial interests aside, Trump isn't the first sitting U.S. president to golf in Scotland. That was Dwight D. Eisenhower, who played in Turnberry in 1959. George W. Bush visited the famed course at Gleneagles in 2005 but didn't play. Many historians trace golf back to Scotland in the Middle Ages. Among the earliest known references to game was a Scottish Parliament resolution in 1457 that tried to ban it, along with soccer, because of fears both were distracting men from practicing archery — then considered vital to national defense. The first U.S. president to golf regularly was William Howard Taft, who served from 1909 to 1913 and ignored warnings from his predecessor, Teddy Roosevelt, that playing too much would make it seem like he wasn't working hard enough. Woodrow Wilson played nearly every day but Sundays, and even had the Secret Service paint his golf balls red so he could practice in the snow, said Mike Trostel, director of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Warren G. Harding trained his dog Laddie Boy to fetch golf balls while he practiced. Lyndon B. Johnson's swing was sometimes described as looking like a man trying to kill a rattlesnake. Bill Clinton, who liked to joke that he was the only president whose game improved while in office, restored a putting green on the White House's South Lawn. It was originally installed by Eisenhower, who was such an avid user that he left cleat marks in the wooden floors of the Oval Office by the door leading out to it. Bush stopped golfing after the start of the Iraq war in 2003 because of the optics. Barack Obama had a golf simulator installed in the White House that Trump upgraded during his first term, Trostel said. John F. Kennedy largely hid his love of the game as president, but he played on Harvard's golf team and nearly made a hole-in-one at California's renowned Cypress Point Golf Club just before the 1960 Democratic National Convention. 'I'd say, between President Trump and President John F. Kennedy, those are two of the most skilled golfers we've had in the White House,' Trostel said. Trump, Trostel said, has a handicap index — how many strokes above par a golfer is likely to score — of a very strong 2.5, though he's not posted an official round with the U.S. Golf Association since 2021. That's better than Joe Biden's handicap of 6.7, which also might be outdated, and Obama, who once described his own handicap as an 'honest 13.' The White House described Trump as a championship-level golfer but said he plays with no handicap. ___ Associated Press writer Chris Megerian in Washington contributed to this report. Will Weissert, The Associated Press
