'Alaska Airlines', (), based in
Seattle, Washington, USA, has grown from a small
regional airline to one carrying more than 12 million customers per year. It operates hubs at
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, as well as large operations at
Los Angeles International Airport,
San Francisco International Airport, and
Portland International Airport.
History
The airline traces its roots to 'McGee Airways', which flew its inaugural service between
Anchorage and
Bristol Bay in
1932 with a
Stinson 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 Airlines moved to the jet age when it brought in a
Convair CV-990. 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 and
Jet America Airlines, which merged into Alaska Airlines in
1987. The airline employs 9,866 staff (at March
2007).
[1]
Destinations
Main articles: Alaska Airlines destinations
Alaska's route system spans more than 80 cities in the
United States,
Canada, and
Mexico. The airline operated charter flights to the
Russian Far East starting in the late 1960s, and was known for the 1988 Friendship Flight to
Provideniya that broke the old Soviet border. The airline began scheduled operations to the
Russian Far East in 1991 following the break up of the Soviet Union, but suspended the service in 1998 following the
Russian financial crisis. The airline flew MD-80 aircraft on these routes.
Alaska's reputation for outstanding service has earned it high marks from sources such as ''
Travel + Leisure'' and ''
Condé Nast Traveler'' magazines. The airline is considered an early adopter of technology, and was the first to sell tickets on their own website, allow web check-in, and install self check-in kiosks at airports. Alaska Airlines also was the first airline to introduce the digEplayer, a portable digital entertainment system which features on-demand movies, TV shows, cartoons, music and destination info.
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
San Francisco Bay Area and the
Los Angeles Metro Area (serving all five LA-area and three Bay Area major airports). With the delivery of 737 Next-Generation aircraft starting in 1999, Alaska began launching more long-haul flights. In 2000, Alaska started service between Anchorage and Chicago. In 2001, the airline was granted slot exemptions by the Department of Transportation to operate a nonstop flight from
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) to Seattle, which was halted after only a few days due to 9/11. However, the service resumed the following year, with an additional flight from Washington National to Seattle added in 2004, as well as new non-stop service between Washington National and Los Angeles. Other long-haul flights from Seattle were launched starting in 2002, including flights to
Boston,
Miami, and
Newark. In October 2007, Alaska Airlines will begin service to
Hawaii, providing non-stop service to
Honolulu from Seattle and Anchorage as well as service to
Lihue,
Kauai from Seattle.
Alaska Airlines' regional carrier,
Horizon Air, is closely integrated into Alaska's operations, with Alaska and Horizon sharing many routes. Alaska and Horizon are owned by the same parent company, Alaska Air Group. The airline's
frequent flyer program is called Mileage Plan. Alaska Airlines is not part of any of the three major
airline alliances, but Mileage Plan airline partners include prominent members of
SkyTeam, such as
Continental Airlines,
Delta Air Lines,
Northwest Airlines,
KLM, and
Air France, as well as members of
Oneworld, including
American Airlines,
British Airways,
Cathay Pacific, and
Qantas.
Fleet
The Alaska Airlines
all-Boeing (including
McDonnell Douglas) fleet consists of the following aircraft as of September 2007:
[2]:
Retired fleet
As of September 2007, the average age of Alaska Airlines' fleet is 9 years.
[3]
Alaska operates a fleet of
Boeing 737 and
MD-80 (under McDonnell Douglas when purchased or leased) jets which is one of the youngest among all major airlines. The airline ultimately plans to replace all MD-80 aircraft with Boeing 737-800s by the end of 2008. Alaska was the launch customer for the
737-900 stretch variant and also uses 737-400, 737-700 and 737-800 throughout its system. Starting in late 2005, Alaska began modifying some of its 737-400's to all-cargo or cargo-passenger configuration to replace its aging fleet of 737-200 Combi aircraft. The first of these aircraft entered service as a freighter in July 2006, while several 737-400 aircraft have been reconfigured to a fixed passenger/cargo configuration. Alaska retired five 737-200 aircraft in 2006. The last 737-200 was retired
March 31,
2007.
On
June 15,
2005, Alaska ordered 35
Boeing 737-800 aircraft worth $2.3 billion (at list prices) plus options for 15 additional aircraft and purchase rights for another 50, making it one of the largest orders for the 737-800.
[4][5] The first of these aircraft was delivered in January 2006, with deliveries scheduled to continue for the next six years (ref: Air International, July 2005). The retired MD-80's will be stored in
Mojave or
Victorville, California.
Board Room
Alaska Airlines'
airport lounge is called the Board Room. There are six clubs, all located on the
west coast. Board Room members also have access to the
Continental Airlines President's Club,
Delta Air Lines Crown Room Club, and
Northwest Airlines WorldClubs. Listed below are the Board Room locations:
★
Anchorage
★
Los Angeles
★
Portland
★
San Francisco
★
Seattle
★
Vancouver
Employees
As of March 2007, Alaska Airlines employs 9,866 employees.
In 2005, Alaska outsources its baggage handling duties at most airports and replaced them with private contractors, except in the State of Alaska. Alaska's heavy aircraft maintenance used to be done by the carrier in
Oakland, California but since 2005 it's now done by companies in
Abbotsford, British Columbia, and
Oklahoma City, but the airline still performs routine maintenance at its hangar at
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Livery
The alaskaair.com and Spirit of Disneyland planes together at
PDX
Alaska's first livery was just golden words saying Alaska on its tails. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, a painting of an
Eskimo, still used by the carrier, was added to the livery. Three 737-400 aircraft feature special Disney paint schemes. Another 737-400 is painted to look like a giant salmon (known in aviation circles as the "Salmon-Thirty-Salmon"), while one 737-400 and one 737-800 feature the "reverse scheme" livery with alaskaair.com painted on the sides. The colors of Alaska Airlines starting in the 1980s were blue and green. At the start of the 1990s Alaska's colors became ink blue and teal. In November 2006 Alaska added another 737 to its fleet in the
Disney Genie scheme. Alaska also used to have Eskimos that said things like "Thank you for flying Alaska" and some of them even had sunglasses. The fleet has another special 737 with the carrier's first colors to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the start of Alaska Airlines where the livery was voted by employees of Alaska Airlines.
Incidents and accidents
An Alaska plane undergoing repairs at SFO
★ On
November 30,
1947, an Alaska Airlines
Douglas DC-4 (Registration NC91009), flying as Flight 009 with routing
Anchorage-
Yakutat-
Port Hardy-
Seattle, crash landed while attempting to make an ILS approach at
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in
Seattle. The plane went off the runway, rolled down an embankment, struck a ditch, and continued onto the intersection of Des Moines Highway and South 188th Street where it struck an automobile, catching fire and spilling gasoline all over the area. Of the 28 occupants onboard, there were 8 fatalities, plus the person riding in the car. The cause of the crash was attributed to pilot error.
[6]
★ On
January 20,
1949 Flight 8, a
Douglas DC-3 was on routing
Homer, AK-
Kenai, AK when the plane struck the side of Ptarmigan Head 9 miles E of the center of the airway to Kenai. Of the 6 passengers onboard, there were 5 fatalities. The cause was determined to be the action of the pilot in straying off the designated airway
★ On
August 8,
1954, a
Douglas DC-3 operating the routing of
McGrath, AK-
Colorado Creek, AK crashed into the side of a mountain about 25 miles NW of McGrath. Both crewmembers perished
★ On
March 2,
1957, an Alaska Airlines
Douglas C-54B (Registration N90449) operating as Flight 100 routing
Seattle-
Fairbanks-
Seattle "hit a mountain 3.8 miles from
Blyn while on approach to
Seattle. All 5 occupants perished. The Captain intentionally entered an area of low overcast in mountainous terrain."
[1].
★ On
July 21,
1961, an Alaska Airlines
DC-6A (Registration N6118C) operating
Seattle-
Shemya "crashed short of the runway due to the fact that the air traffic controller in the tower had forgotten to turn on the runway and approach lighting systems during a landing at night." All 6 on board were killed.
[2].
★ On
September 4,
1971,
Alaska Airlines Flight 1866, a
Boeing 727-193 operating
Anchorage-
Cordova-
Yakutat-
Juneau-
Sitka crashed into a mountain in the
Chilkat Mountain Range about 18.5 miles from the airport while on approach to
Juneau,
Alaska. All seven crew members and 104 passengers were killed. The cause of the crash was determined to be misleading navigational information given to the flight, the failure of the crew to use all navigational aids and not performing the required audio identification of the navigational facilities
[3]
★ On
April 5,
1976,
Alaska Airlines Flight 60, a
Boeing 727-81 (Registration N124AS) operating
Juneau-
Ketchikan overran the runway while landing in
Ketchikan, Alaska after the Captain decided to attempt a go around at the last moment. One passenger died of a heart attack following the accident. The cause of the crash was determined to be pilot error for initiating a go-around after commitment to landing and the pilot's "unprofessional decision" to abandon the precision approach
[4].
★ On
January 31,
2000,
Alaska Airlines Flight 261, an
MD-83 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. In its final report, the
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined the cause of the accident to be failure of the horizontal stabilizer trim system jackscrew acme nut threads due to insufficient lubrication of the jackscrew assembly by Alaska Airlines. NTSB further determined that the insufficient lubrication resulted from Alaska's extended lubrication and inspection intervals and from the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) approval of those intervals. NTSB also found that the lack of a fail-safe mechanism for the failure of the acme nut threads on the MD-80 design contributed to the accident. This incident, along with the earlier
ValuJet crash, led to closer
FAA oversight of airline maintenance operations.
[5]
★
December 26,
2005: Flight 536, which was headed from
Seattle, Washington to
Burbank, California was forced to make an emergency landing. The cause was a foot-long hole in the
fuselage, which caused the plane to lose cabin pressure. According to
NTSB spokesman Jim Struhsaker, a baggage handler has admitted failing to immediately report bumping the plane at the gate with baggage handling equipment. The
Associated Press quotes Stuhsaker saying "The bump created a crease in the plane's aluminum skin, which opened up into a 12- by 6-inch gash as the plane came under increased pressure differential at 26,000 feet..
Other facts
★ Since the 1970s Alaska Airlines has included a prayer card with each in-flight meal which quotes a select verse from the Bible. This has resulted in both positive and
negative feedback.
★ The original Eskimo painted on Alaska Airlines planes had shoulders. From the 1980s onward, only the head of the Eskimo is shown.
★ Alaska was known to have offered complimentary meals and snacks during flights. But, starting in early 2005, Alaska began a
pilot program, charging five dollars in the main cabin for meals on flights to Mexico. Starting in August 2006, the airline expanded this buy on board meal program to the coach cabin on most flights over 3 hours in length, including all transcontinental flights. The airline continues to serve complimentary meals to the first class cabin at meal times.
References
1. Directory: World Airlines
2. Alaska Airlines Fleet Facts
3. Alaska Airlines Fleet Age
4. Alaska Airlines Orders 35 Boeing 737-800s
5. Boeing, Alaska Airlines Announce Order for 35 Boeing Next-Generation 737-800s
6. http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19471130-0 Aviation Safety Network
External links
★
Alaska Airlines
★
Alaska Airlines Fleet Detail
★
Alaska Airlines International
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