Grounded and Ghosted by Alaska Airlines? Here's How to Actually Get Paid (Not Just a Meal Voucher)

If you were flying Alaska Airlines this past Sunday, July 20, there’s a decent chance your plans—and your patience—were completely wrecked.

A massive IT outage forced Alaska and Horizon to ground every single jet, thanks to what the airline called a failure of a “critical piece of multi-redundant hardware” at their data center. Translation? Tech broke, planes stopped, and chaos ensued. Nearly 200 flights canceled, 13,500 passengers stranded, and the usual customer service nightmare: long tarmac waits, jammed phone lines, vague gate announcements, and zero accountability.

The apology? A press release. Maybe a voucher. Maybe a hotel if you’re lucky.

Let’s be clear: that’s not good enough.

Airlines bank on the fact that you'll give up

They want you frustrated, disoriented, and too exhausted to fight back. Maybe you’ll fill out a little web form. Maybe you’ll accept a $12 meal credit. Maybe you’ll forget the whole thing happened by the time they send a canned apology two weeks later.

But if you lost time, money, missed events, or just spent hours getting the runaround—you deserve actual compensation, not coupons.

Here's how to flip the script—and go straight to the top

If the airline’s customer service isn’t helping (spoiler: they’re not), you don’t have to settle for waiting on hold or getting ignored.

Instead, use the DearCEO.wtf email builder to go directly to Alaska Airlines’ executives. Not bots. Not call centers. The real decision-makers.

We built this tool because companies tend to get awfully responsive once the C-suite is copied on a complaint. And yes, it works.

What you can—and should—ask for:

• Refunds for canceled or delayed flights, even if they were “non-refundable”
• Reimbursement for meals, hotel stays, and ground transport (Uber, Lyft, etc.)
• Cash compensation for lost work time or prepaid plans you missed
• Travel credits or upgrades as a goodwill gesture

But you have to ask for it—and you have to ask someone who can say yes.

That’s where DearCEO.wtf makes it easy: choose your airline, describe the situation, and send a well-crafted email that lands in the inboxes of executives who don’t like messy PR and angry customers blowing up their LinkedIn.

And this isn’t just about Alaska

This happens all the time. Delta strandings. United overbookings. Spirit doing... well, Spirit things. Anytime your flight gets canceled, rescheduled, or turns into a travel nightmare, you can use the same approach.

• Document everything (photos, receipts, timestamps)
• Skip the generic support line
• Use DearCEO.wtf to escalate the issue
• Politely—but firmly—ask for real compensation
• Watch how fast your case “suddenly” gets attention

TL;DR for the frustrated flier

• Alaska grounded all flights on July 20 during a major IT meltdown
• 13,500+ travelers affected, many left stranded or in the dark
• Alaska’s solution? A vague apology and maybe a snack voucher
• Your solution? DearCEO.wtf —the tool to go over their heads and get what you actually deserve

The next time an airline leaves you grounded, ghosted, and ready to scream into a boarding pass, don’t waste your time begging for scraps. Take 5 minutes. Write your story. Hit send to the C-suite.

They will listen.