Alaska Air Group Reports December Traffic

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Jan 05, 2010, 06:01 ET

SEATTLE, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE: ALK) today reported December operational results for its subsidiaries, Alaska Airlines (Alaska) and Horizon Air (Horizon).

ALASKA AIRLINES

Alaska reported an increase in load factor to 83.6 percent in December 2009, compared to 80.7 percent in December 2008, on a 5.0 percent increase in available seat miles (ASMs) compared to the prior-year period. Alaska also reported that 84.0 percent of its flights arrived on time in December 2009, a 25.6-point increase compared to the 58.4 percent reported in December 2008. December 2008's results were negatively impacted by severe winter storms in the Pacific Northwest during the last two weeks of the month. The following tables show the operational results for December 2009 and for the full year 2009, compared to the prior-year periods:

                                  December                Year-to-Date
                                  --------                ------------
                             2009   2008      Change  2009    2008      Change
                             ----   ----      ------  ----    ----      ------
    Revenue passenger miles
     RPMs (000,000)          1,612  1,483       8.7% 18,362  18,712     (1.9)%
    Available seat  miles
     ASMs (000,000)          1,928  1,837       5.0% 23,144  24,218     (4.4)%
    Passenger load factor     83.6%  80.7%   2.9pts    79.3%   77.3%   2.0pts
    Revenue passengers (000) 1,318  1,278       3.2% 15,561  16,809     (7.4)%
    On-time arrivals as
     reported to U.S. DOT     84.0%  58.4%  25.6pts    82.9%   78.3%   4.6pts
                              ----   ----   -------    ----    ----    ------

HORIZON AIR

Horizon reported an increase in load factor to 75.9 percent in December 2009, compared to 72.8 percent in December 2008. Horizon reported that 80.7 percent of its flights arrived on time in December 2009, a 27.1-point increase compared to the 53.6 percent reported in December 2008. Like Alaska, December 2008's results were impacted by severe weather in the Pacific Northwest. The following tables show the operational results for December 2009 and for the full year 2009, compared to the prior-year periods:

                                 December                Year-to-Date
                                 --------                ------------
                           2009    2008     Change  2009     2008       Change
                           ----    ----     ------  ----     ----       ------
    RPMs (000,000)         211     183       15.1%  2,408    2,635      (8.6)%
    ASMs (000,000)         278     251       10.5%  3,292    3,617      (9.0)%
    Passenger load factor 75.9%   72.8%    3.1pts    73.1%    72.9%    0.2pts
    Revenue passengers
     (000)                 594     532       11.6%  6,759    7,390      (8.5)%
    On-time arrivals      80.7%   53.6%   27.1pts    86.1%    83.1%    3.0pts
                          ----    ----    -------    ----     ----     ------

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK), together serve more than 90 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. Alaska Airlines ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Network Carriers" in the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 and 2009 North America Airline Satisfaction Studies(SM). For reservations, visit alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at alaskaair.com/newsroom.

SOURCE Alaska Air Group, Inc.