Early years (1932–1945) McGee Airways, a precursor to Alaska Airlines, was established by
Linious "Mac" McGee and flew its first service between
Anchorage and
Bristol Bay. Service was unscheduled, with flights taking off when passengers, a load of cargo, or mail needed passage. The airline struggled financially during the
Great Depression. Too many airlines were in Anchorage at the time, with not enough demand to support them. As a result, the airline underwent multiple mergers. The first of these mergers was in 1934, when McGee sold his namesake airline for to
Star Air Service, an airline also located in Anchorage. This allowed McGee to enter the mining industry. With a fleet of 15 aircraft, Star Air Service was a dominant airline in Alaska, but the airline continued to struggle financially because of high maintenance costs for its wood-and-fabric planes. In 1937, McGee came back to the airline and opened a liquor store, and the airline began flying liquor to remote Alaskan communities. That year, Star Air Service purchased Alaska Interior Airlines and was incorporated as Star Air Lines.
Expansion after World War II (1945–1949) In 1945, Alaska Airlines hired its first stewardesses. In 1949, the airline was a major participant in an effort by the newly established state of Israel to airlift Jews out of
Yemen to Israel in what became known as
Operation Magic Carpet. C-46 or DC-4 aircraft were used for the nearly 3,000-mile flight, made necessary to avoid overflying Arab nations. Planes flew from
Eritrea to
Aden, then along the
Gulf of Aqaba to
Tel Aviv. After unloading the refugees, crews then immediately continued to Cyprus, afraid to stay on the ground in Tel Aviv for fear of being bombed. Some 49,000
Yemenite Jews were airlifted by Alaska Airlines and other carriers without a single loss of life.
New leadership (1950s) Alaska Airlines started the 1950s without its worldwide charter business and operations restricted to the state of Alaska. In 1950, it purchased two smaller Alaskan airlines,
Collins Air Service and
Al Jones Airways. The Catalina and Grumman amphibian seaplane aircraft joined the fleet when the airline acquired local southeast Alaska operator
Alaska Coastal Airlines in 1968. During this time, Alaska Air faced some tough competition from other airlines, such as
Northwest Airlines, Pan Am, and
Pacific Northern Airlines, an Alaska-based air carrier operating
Boeing 720 jetliners that was acquired by and merged into
Western Airlines in 1967. Northwest and Pan Am at different times operated
Boeing 747 wide-body jetliners on their services to Alaska with Northwest flying Seattle–Anchorage nonstop with the jumbo jet and Pan Am flying Seattle–Fairbanks nonstop with the 747. To set itself apart from the competition, Alaska Air turned to some cheap but imaginative gimmicks such as having safety instructions read as rhymes, staging fashion shows in the aisles, and having bingo games on board while en route. in the mid 70s livery In 1965, Alaska Airlines turned over some routes between small Alaskan communities, and some smaller aircraft, to
Wien Air Alaska. This allowed Alaska to focus on more heavily travelled routes and allowed them to sell off smaller aircraft. The airline was million in debt when Cosgrave took over, resulting in major cuts. The airline's cargo business was dropped completely, as were many flights and employees. Cosgrave also sought to improve the airline's tarnished image of "Elastic Airlines", referring to its poor schedule keeping. The logo was changed to an image of a smiling
Inuk man, which remains today. Although the exact identity of the man is unknown, some believe it to be the face of either Chester Seveck, a reindeer herder in Kotzebue, or Oliver Amouak, an
Inupiat man. Both were Alaskan natives. Northwest was operating nonstop DC-10 service on the Fairbanks–Seattle route at this time as well. Also in 1985, the
Alaska Air Group was formed as a
holding company for Alaska Airlines. In 1986 Alaska Air Group acquired regional airline
Horizon Air, which remained a separate brand from Alaska Airlines. Since then, both airlines have been subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group. In 1987, Alaska Airlines purchased
Jet America Airlines. Alaska initially operated Jet America as a separate airline, but this proved economically unviable and Jet America's operations were merged into Alaska's. Alaska discontinued all flights to the Midwest and the East coast formerly operated by Jet America. Additional MD-80s entered the fleet via the acquisition of Jet America Airlines in 1987. To compensate for a major seasonal imbalance in travel to Alaska (mostly taking place in the summer), the airline introduced service to Mexican resort cities, where most travel takes place in the winter. In 1988, the airline began servicing the Mexican resort cities of
Mazatlán and
Puerto Vallarta. By the end of the 1980s, 70 percent of Alaska Airlines' passengers flew south of Seattle and the airline served 30 cities in 6 states outside Alaska. In 1991, Alaska Airlines added several routes. In the
Russian Far East, it added the cities of
Magadan and
Khabarovsk, as well as service to
Toronto, its first Canadian city and the first city east of the
Rocky Mountains. Toronto was later dropped in 1992 and the Russian destinations were discontinued in 1998. The airline's MD-80 fleet peaked at 44 aircraft in 1996. Alaska Airlines pioneered some new technologies through the 1990s. It added a heads-up guidance system in 1989 to operate better in foggy conditions, becoming the first airline to use this technology. In 1995, the airline became the first U.S. airline to sell tickets on the Internet. By 2000, all the airline's planes carried
automated external defibrillators, for use in in-flight emergencies. The airline installed self-service kiosks called "Instant Travel Machines" that printed boarding passes, allowing customers to bypass the traditional ticket counter. An X-ray device, an addition to the unit allowing passengers to check their own baggage was being tested in 1999 at Anchorage.
Introducing flights across the U.S. (2000s) at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. Alaska was the launch customer of the Boeing 737-900 aircraft.|alt=Right side view of an airplane taxiing on the tarmac, with several trucks in the foreground and to the left. In the background is a tree-covered hill and dark clouds. In May 2001, the airline took delivery of its first 737-900. In 2001, the airline was granted slot exemptions by the Department of Transportation to operate a nonstop flight from
Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to Seattle, but it was halted after only a week due to the
September 11 attacks. The airline resumed service to Reagan Airport on December 4, 2001, to meet the demand. In January 2002, William Ayer was named CEO of Alaska Airlines. Ayer had been serving as president under Kelly since 1997, having come to Alaska from Horizon two years earlier after spending 13 years with the smaller airline. Ayer took over as chairman and CEO of the Alaska in 2002 upon Kelly's retirement. He 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. To mark its transition to an all-Boeing fleet, Alaska Airlines unveiled a 737-800 called
Spirit of Seattle with Boeing's house colors painted on the fuselage and the airline's Inuit logo painted on the tail fin. Also in 2005, Alaska Airlines contracted out many of its jobs, including ground crew positions, to
Menzies Aviation. In some cases, this resulted in an almost 40% decline in wages. This agreement was found to be a violation of union agreements in 2008 and the new ground crews caused enough damage to aircraft in the first year to make the savings negligible. In addition, Menzies contractors gained a reputation of stealing from checked bags after a few incidents in 2007. at
Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport Starting in June 2006, Alaska Airlines introduced new cargo aircraft to the fleet: five 737-400C
combi aircraft and one 737-400F freighter. The aircraft were originally purchased by Alaska as passenger aircraft in 1992, and converted by Pemco Air Services. The 737-400C "combi" aircraft were uniquely suited for the needs of Alaska, carrying a combination of four cargo pallets and 72 passengers, allowing goods and people to be transported to remote towns. 737-400 based aircraft had 20% more passenger and cargo capacity than the aging
Boeing 737-200 cargo aircraft they replaced.
2010s In March 2010, Alaska Airlines began service from
San Jose, California, to Kahului and Kona, Hawaii, and also from
Sacramento, California, to Kahului, Hawaii. In September 2010, Alaska Airlines began service between Seattle and
Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. In 2011, Horizon Air no longer operated as a separate regional airline. Instead, it transitioned to a capacity purchase agreement (CPA) business model, which had by that time become the regional airline industry standard. Under the CPA, Horizon operates and maintains its aircraft, while Alaska Airlines is responsible for scheduling, marketing and pricing all flights. As part of the change to the new business model, the Horizon Air brand was retired and all Horizon planes were repainted with a co-branded ""
livery. In January 2011, Alaska Airlines placed an order for thirteen
Boeing 737-900ERs to be delivered between 2012 and 2014, with two 737-800s also part of the order. In 2011, Alaska Airlines partnered with Boeing and
Fujitsu to be the first to use a new technology called Component Management Optimization to streamline maintenance checks. It allows mechanics to point a handheld device at little
RFID tags attached to certain parts of the aircraft, which will display information about when parts were last replaced. This will allow mechanics to perform inspections quicker than conventional methods. The program is scheduled to launch in 2012. In mid 2011, the airline issued
iPads to its pilots to replace 25 pounds of paper flight manuals that pilots were required to carry on flights (
Electronic flight bag). Alaska Airlines is the first major airline to use iPads on flights. All pilots had iPads by June 2011. This was the first part of the airline's initiative to do away with the
flight bag. The airline is considering using iPads for displaying
aeronautical charts. In November 2011, Alaska Airlines flew 75 commercial passenger flights in the U.S. 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 February 16, 2012, Alaska Airlines' CEO,
Bill Ayer, retired. Ayer became the airline's CEO in 2002 and has been credited with reducing costs and keeping the airline profitable without going through bankruptcy. The airline's president
Brad Tilden became the new CEO on May 15, 2012. In March 2012, Alaska Airlines began service from Seattle to Kansas City and in June 2012, began service to Philadelphia.
Seattle-Tacoma-
Miami International Airport flights ended in July 2012. Service to nearby
Fort Lauderdale began on July 16. Service to San Antonio began in September 2012. Alaska Airlines began service from San Diego to Orlando in October 2012. In , Alaska placed the largest order in its history, when it ordered a total of 50 Boeing 737s in a deal worth billion at list prices. The order consists of 20
737 MAX 8s, 17
737 MAX 9s and 13
737-900ERs. 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. The plan was intended to reduce operating expenses and eventually lower fares. It was met with a great deal of skepticism by
Fairbanks residents who expressed their frustration about the safety of the aircraft and outside boarding in the cold winter climate through social media. 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. The airline ended up modifying one of the jetways at
Fairbanks International Airport so that passengers would not have to go outside to board. In November 2017, Alaska announced that it would revert to an all-jet service in the state of Alaska and that it would close its Horizon Airbase in Anchorage in March 2018. Horizon would re-establish its presence in the state of Alaska two years later, this time flying Embraer 175 aircraft. operated on Alaska Airlines behalf New nonstop service from Seattle to Salt Lake City began in 2013 and from Seattle to Albuquerque, Baltimore, Detroit, New Orleans, Tampa, and Cancun all began in 2014. Several other routes were later added from Salt Lake City in a competitive move against
Delta Air Lines when that carrier added many new routes from Seattle. In 2015, Alaska Airlines announced three new nonstop destinations from Seattle, to Charleston, Nashville, and Raleigh-Durham. These, along with a flight between Los Angeles and Baltimore, began in late 2015 using their 737 aircraft. In January 2016, for the first time in 25 years, Alaska Airlines unveiled a major update to its brand, which included a new logo and livery. In the new design, the Alaska wordmark was streamlined and the design of the Eskimo logo was simplified and the ruffs on the parka were made more colorful. In 2017, Alaska Airlines expanded to Indianapolis, with non-stop service to Seattle in May and San Francisco in September. The San Francisco route was discontinued in September 2018. In September 2018, Alaska Airlines added non-stop service from Seattle to Pittsburgh.
Virgin America acquisition and subsequent lawsuits , Alaska painted several aircraft, including this
Airbus A321neo, in "More to Love" special livery to commemorate the merger 's
New York hub was consolidated into Terminal 7, expanding Alaska's East Coast presence
Virgin America, an airline based out of the
San Francisco Bay Area, launched in 2005 and quickly drew a cult-like following. But as a growing startup airline, the airline would take several years to pay back start-up and expansion costs. Virgin's original investors wanted fast returns on their investments, so they took the airline public, trading on Nasdaq in November 2014. As the airline saw growing profits year after year, a frenzy ensued, and the airline's stock price climbed from $23 at time of IPO to nearly $30 per share within just a year. Not long after Virgin America's successful IPO launch, JetBlue announced their intention to buy controlling interest in Virgin America. The two airlines had complimentary networks on opposite sides of the country and operated similar aircraft types in a similar market. Alaska viewed its acquisition of Virgin America as a start to expanding in California and the
West Coast. After the acquisition was announced,
Richard Branson, the head of the Virgin Group and one of the founders of Virgin America, described himself as "sad" and disappointed. Alaska Air Group purchased Virgin America for $57 per share, a total valuation of $2.6 billion, with additional expenses bringing the cost to approximately $4 billion. The acquisition was completed on December 14, 2016. The
DOT issued a single
operating certificate for the combined airlines in January 2018. The airlines merged into the same passenger service system in April 2018, meaning that most of the customer-facing portions of the company, including flight numbers, website, mobile apps, and airport check-in kiosks, have a single brand: Alaska Airlines. Virgin America's final flight was in April 2018. The last Virgin America aircraft was repainted in June 2019. Prior to the acquisition, Alaska operated an all-Boeing 737 fleet of aircraft, but Virgin America operated an all-Airbus fleet. At the time of the merger, it was unclear whether Alaska Airlines would retain the Airbus aircraft. The company estimated that maintaining the Airbus sub-fleet would cost between $20 million and $25 million annually. In July 2017, the CEO indicated that the company was leaning towards returning to an all-Boeing fleet, with a full announcement expected by the end of the year. The first Airbus leases expired in 2019, with the rest expiring between 2021 and 2024. In April 2020, in response to
route suspensions stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, Alaska grounded 19 inherited Virgin America aircraft, with 12 permanently retired and the other 7 unlikely to return to service. The airline is using pandemic-related flight reductions as an opportunity to retrain many Airbus pilots to fly the Boeing 737 instead. The final Airbus aircraft from the merger were phased out in 2023.
2020s Due to the economic effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic, Alaska Airlines announced that it would be reducing its number of employees by 30%. By the end of 2020, the firm cut out around 7,000 job positions out of its 23,000 total. 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 December 2020, Alaska Airlines agreed to buy 23 Boeing 737 MAX 9 jets. In November 2021, Alaska Airlines launched seasonal service to
Belize, making it the fourth foreign country served by the airline. In August 2022, Alaska Airlines was reported to be an investor in Twelve, a
sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) start up and chemical technology company based in
Berkeley, California, that aims to make fuel out of carbon dioxide instead of things like organic vegetable oils, which would supposedly be cheaper than existing SAF production. Twelve's E-Jet fuel would have 90% lower emissions than conventional fuel but not require changing existing aircraft. At proper scale, it would be cost competitive with existing fuel and help allow Alaska Airlines to meet emissions goals. In October 2022, Alaska Airlines announced an agreement with Boeing to purchase 52 additional Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, the airline's largest aircraft order thus far. In May 2022, Alaska Airlines removed their inflight magazine,
Alaska Beyond, and moved to an airline blog due to COVID-19 cleaning procedures. In January 2023, Alaska Airlines announced that it had officially dropped plastic cups from its inflight food and beverage services, becoming the first U.S. airline to do so. It said that the move is part of plans to replace its top five waste-producing items from onboard services by 2025. In 2023, Alaska Airlines announced a partnership with
Taiwan-based Starlux Airlines.
Mokulele Airlines, a small commuter airline in Hawaii, and its parent company,
Southern Airways Express, both became partner airlines in 2023.
Porter Airlines, a
Canadian airline, became a partner before starting service from Toronto to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. A partnership with
Kenmore Air was resumed in 2023, first introduced in 2010. Flights from Everett to the
San Juan Islands became bookable on Alaska Airlines' website. Alaska Airlines announced nonstop service to
Guatemala and
the Bahamas in June and July 2023.
Bahamasair was announced as a partner airline at the same time service to the Bahamas was revealed. In 2023, Alaska Airlines agreed to a settlement resolving claims that it misclassified certain workers and failed to pay proper wages. The lawsuit was filed under California labor laws and included allegations of wage and hour violations. On April 17, 2024, the FAA announced a
ground stop advisory for Alaska Airlines, stopping all of the airline's flights. The FAA did not announce a reason for this. - painted in the new "global" livery Alaska Airlines debuted a modified "global" livery based on the
aurora borealis in January 2026, to be painted on its fleet of widebody planes that were acquired through the Hawaiian Airlines merger. The airline plans to add 12 intercontinental flights from its Seattle hub by 2030 using a fleet of 17
Boeing 787s and 24
Airbus A330s. That same month, Alaska announced the purchase of 110 new Boeing aircraft, making it the airline's single largest order in history. This was done as part of an aggressive expansion and fleet modernization plan to transition towards the 737 MAX and 787.
Acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines In December 2023, Alaska Airlines announced that it would
merge with
Hawaiian Airlines for $1.9 billion in cash along with an assumption of approximately $900 million in outstanding debt. Airline industry analysts had promoted the merger for years which would create a combined carrier focused on the western United States. The merger would provide Alaska, which is primarily a domestic carrier with
narrow-body aircraft, with Hawaiian's wide-body jets, pilots, and international networks. The merger would retain both Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines as separate brands; Hawaiian Airlines would also become a
Oneworld member. The two airlines intend to operate a combined frequent-flyer program, with Alaska's
Mileage Plan likely to replace HawaiianMiles unless the companies opt for an all-new program. The proposed merger was approved by shareholders of Hawaiian Airlines in April 2024, following earlier approval from both
Alaska Air Group and Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. Under President Biden, the
U.S. Department of Justice has worked to prevent further consolidation in the airline industry but it was initially unclear whether the department would file suit against the merger, with analysts noting differences between the proposal and prior proposals opposed by the administration. The main area of regulatory concern was that the deal would put about 40% of the traffic between Hawaii and the mainland U.S. in one company's hands. On August 19, 2024, the
U.S. Department of Justice completed its regulatory antitrust review of the proposed acquisition and declined to attempt to block the merger in court. The merger next requires the approval of the
U.S. Department of Transportation. Alaska Airlines emphasized its experience operating an intra-Alaska network including service to 16 destinations not reachable by road while pledging to maintain a robust interisland schedule in Hawaii to neighbor islands. The
Wall Street Journal speculated that consolidation would lead to higher prices for consumers on flights to Hawaii although this was disputed by the companies. When the merger was announced,
Governor Josh Green (HI) promised that he and the attorney general
Anne Lopez would monitor the merger "very closely" adding that both "are very high-quality companies, but ultimately, I will be watching to make sure all of our state's needs are met and all of our workers are cared for." In February 2024,
Richard Bissen (mayor of Maui County),
Rick Blangiardi (mayor of the City and County of Honolulu),
Derek Kawakami (mayor of Kauai County), and
Mitch Roth (mayor of Hawaiʻi County) published an open letter in the
Honolulu Star-Advertiser declaring their support for the merger as "good for Hawaiʻi" and enhancing service to neighbor islands. Alaska Airlines confirmed that miles held in Hawaiian's HawaiianMiles
frequent-flyer program would be converted to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan scheme at a 1:1 ratio. In August 2024, the regulatory review period ended without issue, a week after Alaska had agreed to extend that review period. The news effectively gave Alaska DOJ approval for the deal. Alaska called it "a significant milestone in the process to join our airlines." On September 17, 2024, the final regulatory hurdle for the merger was cleared when the United States Department of Transportation approved of the merger. The carriers stated they expected to close the deal in the days following this approval. On September 18, 2024, the merger was completed, following an agreement with the U.S. Department of Transportation. As part of the deal, both airlines committed to maintaining key routes in Hawaii and upholding consumer protections for the next six years. ==Network==