ALASKA Airlins : AS : ASA

Falling fuel costs and capacity cuts drove up Seattle-based Alaska Air Group's net income in the third quarter, the company [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Thursday.
Net income was $87.6 million, or $2.46 per diluted share, in the third quarter, compared with a net loss of $86.5 million, or $2.40 per diluted share, a year earlier, the company said. Excluding mark-to-market fuel hedge gains of $7.3 million, Alaska Air Group reported net income of $83 million, $2.33 per diluted share, compared with $39.9 million, $1.10 per diluted share, a year earlier.
Through the first nine months of this year, Alaska had a net income of $97.5 million, $2.69 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $60.7 million, $1.67 per diluted share in the same period last year.
The "first and most significant" driver of the increased net revenues was "the dramatic decline in our fuel expense," Chief Financial Officer Glenn Johnson said in a conference call.
Alaska Airlines President Brad Tilden said the carrier has "been able to pull down capacity in weaker markets, such as California, Nevada and Mexico," while adding stronger markets, such as Hawaii, Austin, Houston and, as of Friday, Atlanta. A new bag fee stared in July also helped, Tilden said.
Bill Ayer, Alaska Air Group's chairman and chief executive, said service to new markets has allowed the company to keep many employees it would otherwise have laid off.
Going forward, he said: "We're going to continue to be real cautious with capacity."
The company also is seeing results from a long-term plan it drew up in 2003, Ayer said. "Some of the goals that seemed like a real stretch back then have become reality today."
Specifically, he noted that Alaska Airlines achieve an all-Boeing 737 [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] a little over a year ago, when it took its last MD-80 out of service, and is close to having every employee on the same incentive plan.
Alaska has fared better than many other airlines because it depends relatively less on international and business travel, Ayer said. But the company is entering a time of year when it's more dependent on business travel, he added, "and we have yet to see any meaningful loosening of travel budget constraints."
Regarding labor, Tilden noted that all of its major employee groups are under contract, although the International Association of Machinists deal is open to renegotiation next summer.
"We would very much like to secure an extension with the IAM," he said, adding that the company also wants to get them into the company's common gain-sharing program.
Executives also hope to do a better job of selling ancillary services -- such as car rental, hotel stays and vacation packages -- while adding Wi-Fi service next year, Tilden said.
Finally, Ayer said executives "couldn't be happier" about partner Delta Air Lines' [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Tuesday that it would expand international service out of Seattle, timed for convenient connections with Alaska flights.
"We think that perfectly fits the relationship that we've been envisioning," he said

	Trafic		Capacité		Taux de remplissage
	RPMs	%	ASMs	%	%	Modification
Delta	15,30	-6,5	18,18	-8,3	84,2	1,6
American	10,24	-2,6	12,33	-7,3	83,1	4,0
United	5,43	-3,8	10,06	-6,8	83,8	2,5
Continental	6,47	1,9	7,80	-2,4	83,0	3,5
Southwest	6,33	1,9	7,99	-9,4	79,2	8,8
Us Airways	4,67	-0,8	5,65	-1,6	82,6	0,7
JetBlue	2,02	7,2	2,50	7,1	80,8	0,1
Alaska	1,46	3,0	1,89	-1,6	77,0	3,4
AirTran	1,51	5,2	1,90	7,0	79,2	-1,3

Alaska Airlines would like to introduce you to the Spirit of Disneyland® II - the newest Disney-themed airplane in the fleet. The new design replaces the original Spirit of Disneyland® aircraft retired last month.
The plane made its innagural flight on December 18th, 2009 from Portland to Los Angeles and was welcomed to the gate by three Make-A-Wish® children who traveled to the Disneyland® Resort to have their wishes granted.
Thanks to the longer fuselage of the Boeing 737-900, Mickey Mouse's faithful friend Pluto joins the cast of Disney characters.
The Spirit of Disneyland® II joins the Magic of

SEATTLE, April 2/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE: ALK) today reported March operational results for its subsidiaries, Alaska Airlines (Alaska) and Horizon Air (Horizon).

ALASKA AIRLINES

Alaska reported a 2.9-point increase in load factor to 84.5 percent in March 2010, compared to 81.6 percent in March 2009, on a 2.2 percent increase in available seat miles (ASMs) compared to the prior-year
period.

Alaska also reported that 87.2 percent of its flights arrived on time in March 2010, a 17.0-point increase compared to the 70.2 percent reported in March 2009.

Last year's on-time performance was negatively impacted by the eruption of Mount Redoubt in Alaska.

The airline's on-time performance for the 12 months ended January 2010 was the best among the 10 largest domestic carriers, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Second quarter highlights:

- Net income excluding special items was $84.0 million, or $2.29 per diluted share, compared to $26.5 million, or $0.72 per share, in the second quarter of 2009.
This quarter's results compared to a First Call mean estimate of $2.12 per share.

- Net income under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) was $58.6 million, or $1.60 per diluted share, compared to net income of $29.1 million, or $0.79 per diluted share, in 2009.

- The company ended the quarter with $1.3 billion in unrestricted cash and marketable securities.

-Alaska Airlines ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Network Carriers" in 2010 by J.D. Power and Associates for the third year in a row.

- Alaska ranked first among mainline/legacy carriers worldwide in Aviation Week magazine's "Top-Performing Airlines" study published in July 2010.

- Alaska continued its streak of excellent on-time performance, holding the No. 1 spot in U.S. Department of Transportation on-time performance among the 10 largest U.S. airlines for 13 of the last 14 months ending in May 2010.

Alaska Air Group Reports Record Third Quarter Results

Source: Alaska Air Group

21/10/2010

Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE: ALK) today reported record third quarter 2010 net income of $122.4 million, or $3.32 per diluted share, compared to net income of $87.6 million, or $2.46 per diluted share, in the third quarter of 2009. Excluding mark-to-market fuel hedge gains of $16.7 million ($10.4 million after tax or $0.28 per diluted share) and Horizon restructuring and CRJ-700 transition charges of $9.8 million ($6.1 million after tax or $0.17 per diluted share), the company reported record adjusted net income of $118.1 million, or $3.21 per diluted share, compared to net income of $83.0 million, or $2.33 per share, excluding special items in the third quarter of 2009.

"We are pleased to report our best quarter ever, with record earnings driven by higher traffic and load factors," said Bill Ayer, chairman and chief executive officer. "We couldn't be more proud of our people for their commitment to operating our flights safely and delivering outstanding on-time performance and customer service."