Airline #9 The Hometown Carrier

Airline #9
Alaska Airlines: ALK Operating out of the beautiful Pacific Northwest, Alaska Airlines serves the Washington State/Oregon/California and return market. Of course, they also fly to Alaska and operate out of many airports up there, and often provide the only choice for air travelers coming out of that region. Some of their Alaskan service is federally subsidized because it's hard to make money flying 737's to Nome and Cordova, and the federal government wants to insure air service is available. Alaska has recently started flights to the East Coast from Seattle and some other western cities. They fly mostly 737's; however some are gas guzzling 737-200's and -400's which don't utilize the fuel saving technoligies incorporated in the -600 through -900 models. (Alaska has some of these as well, but not as many as the older ones). Finally, Alaska has MD-80's which are old, fuel inefficent aircraft that need to be replaced. However, this is not a huge problem, since these planes don't make up much of their fleet. Alaska is not likely to go under anytime soon, though they are cutting jobs and trying to make themselves the "Costco of airlines" (as CEO Bill Ayer recently said) where customers receive a low price, but with somewhat upscale service such as meals and in-flight entertainment.