SEATTLE, Nov 5, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) today reported October passenger traffic for its subsidiaries, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air.

    Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines' October traffic increased 18.4 percent to 961.7 million revenue passenger miles (RPMs) from 812.2 million flown a year earlier. Capacity during October was 1.576 billion available seat miles (ASMs), 23.4 percent higher than the 1.277 billion in October 2001.

The passenger load factor (the percentage of available seats occupied by fare paying passengers) for the month was 61.0 percent, compared to 63.6 in October 2001. The airline carried 1,054,500 passengers compared to 923,400 in October 2001.

RPMs for the ten-month period totaled 10.984 billion, a 6.4 percent increase from the 10.326 billion recorded a year earlier. Capacity for the ten months ended October 2002 increased 7.3 percent to 16.178 billion ASMs, compared to 15.075 billion in 2001.

The passenger load factor for the first ten months of 2002 was 67.9 percent, compared to 68.5 percent in 2001. The airline carried 11,841,400 passengers compared to 11,566,100 in 2001.

    Horizon Air

Horizon Air's October traffic increased 26.8 percent to 121.1 million RPMs from 95.5 million flown a year earlier. Capacity for October was 212.2 million ASMs, 36.4 percent higher than last year's 155.6 million.

The passenger load factor for the month was 57.1 percent, compared to 61.4 percent last October. The airline carried 384,000 passengers compared to 333,100 in October 2001.

RPMs for the ten months ended October 2002 totaled 1.249 billion, a 9.0 percent increase from the 1.146 billion recorded a year earlier. Capacity for the ten-month period increased 9.7 percent to 2.007 billion ASMs, compared to 1.829 billion in 2001.

The passenger load factor for the first ten months of 2002 was 62.2 percent, compared to 62.6 percent in 2001. The airline carried 4,004,700 passengers, compared to 3,967,700 in 2001.

CONTACT:          Alaska Air Group, Inc.
                  Jack Evans, 206/433-3134

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