Alaska Airlines is a major airline in the United States headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area. It is the fifth-largest airline in North America when measured by scheduled passengers carried, as of 2024. Alaska, together with its regional partners Horizon Air and SkyWest Airlines, operates a route network primarily focused on connecting cities along the West Coast of the United States (including Alaska and Hawaii) to over 100 destinations in the contiguous United States, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico.
The airline operates out of seven hubs with its primary hub at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport.[5] Alaska Airlines is a member of Oneworld, the third-largest airline alliance in the world.[6] As of 2020, the airline employs over 16,000 people and has been ranked by J. D. Power as having the highest customer satisfaction of the traditional airlines for twelve consecutive years. In 2024, the airline's parent Alaska Air Group completed an acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines.
History
Early years (1932–1945)
McGee Airways, a precursor to Alaska Airlines, was established by Linious "Mac" McGee and flew its first service between Anchorage and Bristol Bay.[7] Service was unscheduled, with flights taking off when passengers, a load of cargo, or mail needed passage.[8]
The airline struggled financially during the Great Depression. Too many airlines were in Anchorage at the time, with not enough demand to support them. As a result, the airline underwent multiple mergers. The first of these mergers was in 1934, when McGee sold his namesake airline for US$50000 1934 to Star Air Service, an airline also located in Anchorage. This allowed McGee to enter the mining industry.[9] With a fleet of 15 aircraft, Star Air Service was a dominant airline in Alaska, but the airline continued to struggle financially because of high maintenance costs for its wood-and-fabric planes.[10]
Network
Alaska's route system spans more than 115 destinations in the United States, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Japan, and Mexico. Some of the locations served in Alaska include Anchorage, Adak, Cordova, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Kotzebue, King Salmon, Nome, Prudhoe Bay, Sitka, and Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow), several of which are inaccessible by road.
The airline began scheduled operations to the Russian Far East in 1991 following the breakup of the Soviet Union,[138][139] but suspended the service in 1998 following the 1998 Russian financial crisis.[140]
Alaska has historically been one of the largest carriers on the West Coast of the United States, with strong presences in Anchorage, Seattle, Portland, and San Diego, and serving four airports in the Bay Area and four airports in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.[141]
Fleet
Services
Cabin
features priority boarding, complimentary food, as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Seating is wider recliner style seats in a 2-2 configuration on mainline aircraft and a 2-1 configuration on regional jets. All seats in First Class have power outlets.[155][156]
is located behind First Class and features 35 in of seat pitch,[157] 4 in more than in Alaska's Main Cabin. Passengers receive priority boarding and complimentary alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages. A small snack is included and food can be purchased.[158][159][160]
Reward programs
Atmos Rewards
The frequent-flyer program of Alaska Airlines and its subsidiary Horizon Air is called Atmos Rewards, formerly known as Mileage Plan.[175] The program's airline partners include members of all three major airline alliances (Oneworld, SkyTeam, and Star Alliance), as well as several unaffiliated carriers. The Atmos Rewards program has no membership fee and allows one-way redemption. Accumulated miles do not expire.[176] The program has elite tiers (Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Titanium) for frequent travelers,[177] who are provided with increased travel benefits.[178]
Corporate affairs
Alaska Air Cargo
Alaska Air Cargo has regional operations in parts of the United States. It has the most extensive air cargo operations on the west coast of the U.S., larger than any other passenger airline. Alaska's cargo operations are focused primarily on the northwestern contiguous states and Alaska, between Anchorage and Seattle. South of Alaska, primary cargo includes fresh Alaskan seafood. Cargo carried north from Seattle is primarily U.S. Postal Service mail. The airline carries goods for remote Alaskan communities and personal packages.[184]
Worker relations
Alaska's pilot group is represented by the Air Line Pilots Association, International. Its flight attendants are represented by the Association of Flight Attendants.[185]
Since May 2005, the airline's baggage-handling operations have been outsourced to Menzies Aviation
Accidents and incidents
Alaska Airlines has had 11 major aviation accidents in its history, nine of which resulted in deaths, with the other two resulting in the aircraft being written off but no deaths. A total of 226 passengers and crew along with two people on the ground have been killed.
- On November 30, 1947, Flight 009, a Douglas C-54A (NC91009), with routing Anchorage–Yakutat–Port Hardy–Seattle, crash-landed while attempting to make an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport in Seattle. The plane went off the runway, rolled down an embankment, struck a ditch, and continued into the intersection of the Des Moines Highway and South 188th Street where it struck an automobile, caught fire and spilled fuel over the area. Of the 28 occupants, eight died, plus the driver of the car. The crash was attributed to pilot error.[188]
- On January 20, 1949, Flight 8, a Douglas C-47A (NC91006), was on routing Homer–Kenai, when the plane struck the side of Ptarmigan Head 9 mi east of the center of the airway to Kenai. Of the six passengers on board, five died. The cause was determined to be the pilot straying off the designated airway.[189]
Bibliography
See also
- List of airlines of Alaska
- Air transportation in the United States
External links
References
- Alaska Airlines on ch-aviation.com ch-aviation.com, retrieved November 21, 2023^
- Tom Norwood, Wegg, John. North American Airlines Handbook Airways International, 2002, retrieved April 28, 2017^
- Federal Aviation Administration – Airline Certificate Information – Detail View Av-info.faa.gov, retrieved May 17, 2017