Alaska Air Group Reports February Operational Results

SEATTLE, March 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK) today reported February and year-to-date operational results for its subsidiaries, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, and on a combined basis. Detailed information is provided below.

ALASKA AIRLINES – MAINLINE
Alaska reported a 6.2 percent increase in traffic on a 5.4 percent increase in capacity compared with February 2012. This resulted in a 0.6-point increase in load factor to a February record of 85.1 percent. Alaska also reported a record 90.6 percent of its flights arrived on time in February, compared with the 89.5 percent reported in February 2012.

The following table shows Alaska’s operational results for February and year-to-date 2013, compared with the prior-year periods:

                       February                   Year-to-Date
                       --------                   ------------

                 2013            2012    Change                 2013   2012    Change
                 ----            ----    ------                 ----   ----    ------

     Revenue
     passengers
     (in
     thousands) 1,376           1,341        2.6%              2,854  2,695        5.9%

     Revenue
     passenger
     miles
     RPM
     (in
     millions)  1,870           1,761        6.2%              3,902  3,577        9.1%

     Available
     seat
     miles
     ASM
     (in
     millions)  2,198           2,085        5.4%              4,632  4,256        8.8%

     Passenger
     load
     factor      85.1%           84.5% 0.6 pts                  84.2%  84.0% 0.2 pts

     On-
     time
     arrivals
     as
     reported
     to
     U.S.
     DOT         90.6%           89.5% 1.1 pts                  88.6%  84.1% 4.5 pts

HORIZON AIR
Horizon reported a 3.2 percent increase in February traffic on a 1.5 percent decrease in capacity compared with February 2012. This resulted in a 3.5-point increase in load factor to a February record of 80.0 percent. Horizon also reported a record 92.4 percent of its flights arrived on time in February, compared with the 92.1 percent reported in February 2012.

The following table shows Horizon’s operational results for February and year-to-date 2013, compared with the prior-year periods:

                      February                  Year-to-Date
                      --------                  ------------

                2013           2012    Change                 2013   2012    Change
                ----           ----    ------                 ----   ----    ------

     Revenue
     passengers
     (in
     thousands)  528            512        3.1%              1,078  1,012        6.5%

     RPMs
     (in
     millions)   161            156        3.2%                327    309        5.8%

     ASMs
     (in
     millions)   201            204      (1.5)%                421    413        1.9%

     Passenger
     load
     factor     80.0%          76.5% 3.5 pts                  77.7%  74.8% 2.9 pts

     On-
     time
     arrivals
     as
     reported
     to
     U.S.
     DOT        92.4%          92.1% 0.3 pts                  88.5%  88.2% 0.3 pts

AIR GROUP
On a combined basis, Air Group reported a 6.0 percent increase in traffic on a 4.8 percent increase in capacity compared with February 2012. This resulted in a 1.1-point increase in load factor to a February record of 84.8 percent. These statistics include flights operated by Alaska and those under capacity purchase agreements, including Horizon, SkyWest and PenAir.

The following table shows the operational results for February and year-to-date 2013, compared with the prior-year periods:

                       February                   Year-to-Date
                       --------                   ------------

                 2013            2012    Change                 2013   2012    Change
                 ----            ----    ------                 ----   ----    ------

     Revenue
     passengers
     (in
     thousands) 1,947           1,895        2.7%              4,019  3,794        5.9%

    RPMs
     (in
     millions)  2,068           1,951        6.0%              4,304  3,956        8.8%

    ASMs
     (in
     millions)  2,441           2,330        4.8%              5,143  4,756        8.1%

     Passenger
     load
     factor      84.8%           83.7% 1.1 pts                  83.7%  83.2% 0.5 pts

Alaska Airlines, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK), together with its partner regional airlines, serves 95 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. Alaska Airlines has ranked “Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Network Carriers” in the J.D. Power and Associates North America Airline Satisfaction Study(SM) for five consecutive years from 2008 to 2012. For reservations, visit www.alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines Newsroom at www.alaskaair.com/newsroom.

SOURCE Alaska Air Group