Alaska Airlines experiences hourlong ground stoppage over software issue

April 17 (UPI) -- Alaska Airlines flights around the country were grounded for about an hour Wednesday morning because of software issues, the company said.

The Federal Aviation Administration ended the ground stop after the airline reported the issue, affecting its flights along with its subcarriers.

"This morning, we experienced an issue while performing an upgrade to the system that calculates our weight and balance," Alaska Airlines said, according to USA Today. "The issue was mitigated and the ground stop for Alaska and Horizon flights expired at 8:30 p.m., PDT.

"We have begun releasing flights. Residual delays are expected throughout the day. We apologize for the inconvenience."

Seattle-based Alaska Airlines did not reveal how many flights were affected by the ground stop.

Earlier this month, Boeing said in federal financial filings that it paid Alaska Airlines $160 million in compensation for an incident in January where a door plug flew off of a 737 Max 9 plane in midair, forcing it to an emergency landing in Portland, Ore.