Alaska Airlines, based in Seattle, Washington, USA, has grown from a small regional airline to one carrying more than 12 million customers per year.

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 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 and 737-700 variants in the lower 48, plus 737-200 variants within the state of Alaska. 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 started to expand their long-haul routes, with nonstop service from Seattle to Washington, Boston, and Miami.

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.

Its safety record rates a "A", the highest grade possible, according to Air Rankings Online (see rankings at Airline Rankings (http://www.airsafetyonline.com/safetycenter/reportcard.shtml)). 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 after taking off from Los Angeles International Airport en route from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to Los Angeles 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.

IATA & ICAO Code

Alaska Airlines uses the IATA designator code AS, ICAO code ASA and callsign Alaska

External links

• Alaska Airlines (http://www.alaskaair.com/)
• Alaska Airlines route map (http://www.alaskaair.com/images/asqxroutemap.jpg)
• Guide to earning miles on Alaska Airlines (http://mileguide.com/alaska.shtml)
• Alaska Airlines crashes (http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi_bin/airline_detail.cgi?airline=Alaska+Airlines)

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fr:Alaska Airlines