Alaska Air Group Reports December and Year-End Operational Results

SEATTLE — Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK) today reported December and year-end 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 an 8.4 percent increase in traffic on a 9.9 percent increase in capacity compared with December 2011. This resulted in a 1.1-point decrease in load factor to 86.3 percent. Alaska also reported 83.3 percent of its flights arrived on time in December, compared with 85.4 percent in December 2011. For all of 2012, Alaska reported a record load factor of 86.6 percent and carried a record 18.5 million passengers.

Horizon Air

Horizon reported a 5.3 percent increase in December traffic on a 4.6 percent increase in capacity compared with December 2011. This resulted in a 0.7-point increase in load factor to a December record of 79.4 percent and full-year record of 78.3 percent. Horizon also reported 85.2 percent of its flights arrived on time in December, compared with 90.2 percent in December 2011.

The year-to-date decline in capacity and traffic for Horizon from the prior year is due primarily to the completion of Horizon’s transition out of the CRJ-700 regional jet. This transition was completed in June 2011.

AIR GROUP (including flights operated by third parties)

On a combined basis, Air Group reported an 8.1 percent increase in traffic on a 9.0 percent increase in capacity compared with December 2011. This resulted in a 0.7-point decrease in load factor to 85.7 percent. These statistics include flights operated by Alaska and those under capacity purchase arrangements, including Horizon, SkyWest and a small third-party carrier in the state of Alaska.