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| Alaska Airlines
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IATA
AS
| ICAO
ASA
| Callsign
Alaska
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| Founded
| 1932 (as McGee Airways)
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{{{{{{
| Headquarters
| Seattle, Washington
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| Key people
| William "Bill" Ayer (CEO)
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| Website
| www.alaskaair.com
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Spirit of Disneyland at ONT gate 206
Alaska Airlines (IATA: AS, ICAO: ASA, and Callsign: Alaska), based in Seattle, Washington, USA, has grown from a small regional airline to one carrying more than 12 million customers per year. It has its hub at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, as well as large operations at Los Angeles International Airport, Portland International Airport, and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.
Contents
- 1 History
- 2 Incidents and Accident
- 3 Services
- 4 Destinations
- 5 Fleet
- 6 See also
- 7 External links
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History
The airline traces its roots to McGee Airways, which flew its inaugural service between Anchorage and Bristol Bay in 1932 with a single-engined, three-passenger aircraft. Mergers and acquisitions produced changes in the name and saw business expand throughout Alaska and the USA. The name Alaska Airlines was adopted in 1944. Alaska's sister (and wholly owned) airline, Horizon Air, was founded in 1981 to serve communities using routes vacated by larger airlines after the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. In 1985, Alaska Air Group was formed as a holding company for Alaska Airlines. A year later the holding company acquired Horizon Air Industries and Jet America Airlines, which merged into Alaska Airlines in 1987. The airline employs 10,040 staff (at January 2005).
Incidents and Accident
Its safety record rates a "A", the highest grade possible, according to Air Rankings Online (see rankings at Airline Rankings). Rankings are cumulatives, based on the number of fatal accidents per million flights that the carrier has flown since 1970.
Notwithstanding the above, on January 31, 2000, Alaska Airlines Flight 261 plunged into the Pacific Ocean near Point Mugu, California shortly before attempting an emergency landing at Los Angeles International Airport en route from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to San Francisco and Seattle, killing all 88 people on board. This incident, along with the earlier ValuJet crash, led to closer FAA oversight of airline maintenance operations.
Services
Alaska's route system spans more than 40 cities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. They formerly flew to the Russian Far East.
Alaska's reputation for outstanding service consistently earns best U.S. airline recognition
from sources such as Travel&Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler magazines. The airline is considered an early adopter of technology, and was one of the first to sell tickets at their own website, allow web check-in, and install self check-in kiosks at airports.
Alaska has historically been one of the largest carriers on the US west coast as well as to and within the State of Alaska, with strong presences in Seattle, Portland, the Bay Area and the Los Angeles Metro Area (all five airports). In about 2000, Alaska began providing long-haul routes to the East Coast. It currently offers nonstop service from Seattle to Boston, New York, Washington, DC, Miami, Orlando, Chicago, Denver and Dallas. Alaska Airlines operates more international flights from LAX than any other airline, with extensive services to Mexico. The following cities in Mexico are currently served from LAX: Loreto, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, Manzanillo, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Guadalajara, Mexico City and Cancun. Alaska also serves Vancouver from Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle, as well as Calgary from Los Angeles and Seattle. In 2003, the airline was granted a slot exemption by the US Congress to operate nonstop flights from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to Los Angeles.
Alaska Airlines' regional carrier, Horizon Air, is closely integrated into Alaska'a operations, with Alaska and Horizon sharing many routes. Alaska and Horizon are owned by the same parent company, Alaska Air Group.
Destinations
see article: Alaska Airlines destinations.
Fleet
The Alaska Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft (as of July 2005):
- 12 Boeing 737-900
- 3 Boeing 737-800
- 22 Boeing 737-700
- 39 Boeing 737-400
- 6 Boeing 737-200C
- 3 McDonnell Douglas MD-82
- 23 McDonnell Douglas MD-83
Alaska operates a fleet of Boeing 737 and MD-80 jets which is one of the youngest among all major airlines. The airline had planned to phase out all of the MD-80 aircraft with new 737 models, but the difficult financial state of the airline industry in the early 2000s has kept the MD-80s in the fleet for now. Alaska was the launch customer for the 737-900 stretch variant and also uses 737-400, 737-700 and 737-800 variants in the lower 48, plus 737-200 variants within the state of Alaska.
On 15 June 2005, Alaska ordered 35 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft worth $2.3 billion at list prices, with options for 15 additional aircraft. In addition to these 50 aircraft, Alaska also took out purchase rights for a further 50 aircraft, making this one of the largest orders placed for the 737-800. First delivery is scheduled for January 2006, with the remainder being phased in over the next six years (ref: Air International, July 2005).
See also
- Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
External links
- Alaska Airlines
- Alaska Airlines Fleet Detail
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