67 Facts About Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines is a major American airline headquartered in SeaTac, Washington, within the Seattle metropolitan area.

Alaska Airlines is a member of Oneworld, the third-largest airline alliance in the world.

McGee Airways, a precursor to Alaska Airlines, flew its first regular but unscheduled service between Anchorage and Bristol Bay.

The name Alaska Airlines was adopted on May 2,1944, having narrowly beaten a competitor who was applying for the name.

In 1943, Alaska Airlines purchased the Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar, its first multi-engine aircraft.

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Alaska Airlines was the first carrier certified to operate DC-3s on skis.

Also in 1949, Alaska Airlines Air began operating five Bell 47B helicopters in order to support oil exploration on the North Slope thus becoming the first airline in Alaska Airlines to operate rotary-wing aircraft.

Alaska Airlines started the 1950s without its worldwide charter business and operations restricted to the state of Alaska.

Alaska Airlines began service with the Douglas DC-6, the airline's first pressurized plane, enabling flights above clouds and weather disturbances.

Alaska Airlines owned Lockheed Constellation propliners including two Lockheed L-1649A Starliners from 1962 to 1968, and three L-1049's which were used for Military Air Transport Service operations.

In December 1962 Air Guinee signed a contract with Alaska Airlines which saw the latter company providing management expertise, in addition to two Douglas DC-4s.

The deal would have seen Alaska Airlines contracting with the airline over a seven-year period but the contract ended after only six months, leading to the United States Agency for International Development paying a US$700,000 debt owed by the Guinean airline to Alaska Airlines.

In 1965, Alaska Airlines turned over some routes between small Alaskan communities, as well as some smaller aircraft, to Wien Air Alaska.

In 1967, as the state of Alaska celebrated its centennial, Alaska Airlines introduced a promotional "Gay Nineties" theme with stewardesses dressed in Edwardian outfits.

That year, Alaska Airlines expanded to southeast Alaska with the introduction of service to Sitka.

Alaska Airlines was operating Boeing 707, Boeing 720, and Boeing 720B jetliners in scheduled passenger service between destinations in Alaska and Seattle during the early and mid-1970s.

Alaska Airlines was one of only three US carriers that supported the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act, knowing that it would reap significant growth and other benefits from deregulation.

At the time of deregulation, Alaska Airlines served ten cities in Alaska and one in the contiguous US—the city of Seattle—and it had only ten planes in its fleet.

In 1979, Alaska Airlines studied the possibility of acquiring and merging with Hughes Air West this never came to fruition.

Alaska Airlines was the launch customer for the MD-83, taking delivery of its first MD-80s in 1985.

Alaska Airlines initially operated Jet America as a separate airline, but this proved economically unviable and Jet America's operations were merged into Alaska Airlines's.

Alaska Airlines discontinued all flights to the Midwest and the East coast formerly operated by Jet America.

However, after Alaska Airlines Air declined to buy the airline in the fall of 1991, it intensified competition with Alaska Airlines.

Alaska had more competition in 1993 when low-cost airline Southwest Airlines entered the Pacific Northwest by purchasing Morris Air.

Nevertheless, Alaska Airlines was able to keep its costs down, but it maintained its high level of customer service.

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Alaska Airlines continued to take delivery of new MD-83s during the 1990s, both to meet the demands of a growing route system, and to replace its aging and fuel inefficient 727 fleet.

Alaska Airlines led the company through a transformation called Alaska 2010 that was intended to insulate the airline from the traditional boom-bust cycle of the airline industry.

In 2003, Alaska Airlines won the Technology Leadership Award from the magazine Air Transport World for its pioneering of new technologies both in the airport and within the airplane itself.

Also in 2005, Alaska Airlines contracted out many of its jobs, including ground crew positions, to Menzies Aviation.

On September 9,2007, Alaska Airlines introduced daily nonstop service between Portland, Oregon, to Boston.

On October 26,2008, Alaska Airlines launched service from Seattle to Minneapolis-Saint Paul.

In March 2010, Alaska Airlines began service from San Jose, California, to Kahului and Kona, Hawaii, and from Sacramento, California, to Kahului, Hawaii.

On September 27,2010, Alaska Airlines began service between Seattle and Lambert-St Louis International Airport.

Under the CPA, Horizon operates and maintains its aircraft, while Alaska Airlines is responsible for scheduling, marketing and pricing all flights.

Alaska Airlines entered into a similar capacity purchase agreement with the nation's largest regional airline, SkyWest Airlines.

In 2011 Alaska Airlines partnered with Boeing and Fujitsu to be the first to use a new technology called Component Management Optimization, which will streamline maintenance checks.

Alaska Airlines is the first major airline to use iPads on flights; all pilots had iPads by the middle of June 2011.

In November 2011 Alaska Airlines flew 75 commercial passenger flights in the US powered by biofuel using a 20 percent blend of sustainable biofuel made from used cooking oil that meets rigorous international safety and sustainability standards.

On March 9,2012, Alaska Airlines began service from Seattle to Kansas City and on June 11,2012, began service to Philadelphia.

Alaska Airlines began service from San Diego to Orlando on October 11,2012.

Alaska Airlines announced a plan in June 2013 to begin replacing Boeing 737s on flights between Fairbanks and Anchorage, Alaska, with Bombardier Q400s operated by Horizon Air and based out of Anchorage beginning in March 2014.

Alaska Airlines responded to the comments on Facebook attempting to reassure passengers of the safety of the Bombardier Q400s as well as promising to address the unusual aspects of flying in Alaska.

In November 2017, Alaska Airlines announced that it would revert to all jet service in the state of Alaska Airlines and that it would close its Horizon Airbase in Anchorage in March 2018.

In 2015, Alaska Airlines announced 3 new nonstop destinations from Seattle, to Charleston, Nashville, and Raleigh-Durham.

On January 25,2016, for the first time in 25 years, Alaska Airlines unveiled a major update to its brand, which included a new logo and livery.

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In 2017, Alaska Airlines expanded to Indianapolis, with non-stop service to Seattle in May and San Francisco in September.

Acquisition created one issue for the enlarged Group: Alaska Airlines operates an all-Boeing 737 fleet of aircraft, but Virgin America operated an all-Airbus fleet.

In February 2020, Alaska Airlines announced its intention to join the Oneworld airline alliance.

On March 31,2021, Alaska Airlines officially joined the Oneworld alliance, adding seven new airline partners, including Iberia, Malaysia Airlines, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines, and SriLankan Airlines.

In November 2021, Alaska Airlines launched seasonal service to Belize, making it the fourth foreign country served by the airline.

Alaska Airlines 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.

Alaska Airlines is a member of the Oneworld alliance and has codeshares or mileage partnerships with the following airlines:.

Alaska Airlines operates a mainline fleet consisting primarily of Boeing 737 series aircraft, with some Airbus A320 family aircraft formerly operated by Virgin America.

Regional flights are operated with Alaska branded Bombardier Q400 and Embraer E175 planes by the Alaska-owned regional airline Horizon Air and contractor SkyWest Airlines.

Alaska Airlines operated with an all–Boeing 737 mainline fleet from August 25,2008, until January 11,2018, at which time Alaska officially took possession of Virgin America's fleet of Airbus aircraft.

On February 1,2012, Alaska Airlines started serving coffee from fellow Seattle company Starbucks on all of its flights.

In 2015, Alaska Airlines updated inflight hot entrees with options created by Seattle Chef Tom Douglas.

In July 2018, Alaska Airlines updated much of the First Class menu inspired by the airlines' West Coast presence.

Alaska Airlines is recognized by the World Airline Entertainment Association as having a "historic first" in Inflight entertainment by introducing in October 2003 the first portable, hard-drive based, audio-video-on-demand players that deliver a variety of film, TV and audio programs.

In 2015 Alaska Airlines introduced Alaska Airlines Beyond with Inflight Entertainment Tablets to replace the digEplayers.

All Alaska Airlines jets are equipped with an in-flight Wi-Fi and streaming entertainment system.

Alaska Airlines launched trials of In-flight Wi-Fi Internet service in 2009.

Alaska Airlines began switching to a satellite-based system in the third quarter of 2019, which is available on all flights, including flights over the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

On November 1,2011, Alaska Airlines began a new program, called Club 49, exclusively for Mileage Plan members who are residents of Alaska.

Alaska Airlines Foundation, headquartered on the grounds of Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, gives grants to 501 non-profit organizations that are classified as charities in Alaska and Washington.

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In late 2016, Alaska Airlines created a wholly owned subsidiary McGee Air Services which would compete with Menzies Aviation for ground handling contracts in select Alaska cities.

Alaska Airlines has had eleven major aviation accidents in its long history, nine of which resulted in deaths, with the other two resulting in the aircraft being written off but no deaths.