SEATTLE, Oct 3, 2002 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Alaska Air Group, Inc. (NYSE:ALK) today reported September passenger traffic for its subsidiaries, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air.

    ALASKA AIRLINES

Alaska Airlines' September traffic increased 38.3 percent to 994 million revenue passenger miles (RPMs) from 719 million flown a year earlier. Capacity during September was 1.579 billion available seat miles (ASMs), 33.5 percent higher than the 1.183 billion in September 2001. Alaska Airlines operated approximately 76 percent of its normal flight schedule during the month of September 2001, due to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Had Alaska operated its normal flight schedule last year, traffic and capacity would be up 5.1 percent and 1.4 percent respectively.

The passenger load factor (the percentage of available seats occupied by fare paying passengers) for the month was 62.9 percent, compared to 60.7 in September 2001. The airline carried 1,096,300 passengers compared to 805,500 in September 2001.

RPMs for the nine-month period totaled 10.022 billion, a 5.3 percent increase from the 9.514 billion recorded a year earlier. Capacity for the nine months ended September 2002 increased 5.8 percent to 14.602 billion ASMs, compared to 13.798 billion in 2001.

The passenger load factor for the first nine months of 2002 was 68.6 percent, compared to 69.0 percent in 2001. The airline carried 10,787,000 passengers compared to 10,642,700 in 2001.

    HORIZON AIR

Horizon Air's September traffic increased 53.9 percent to 122.9 million RPMs from 79.8 million flown a year earlier. Capacity for September was 201.0 million ASMs, 37.9 percent higher than last year's 145.7 million. Horizon Air operated approximately 77 percent of its normal flight schedule during the month of September 2001, due to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Had Horizon operated its normal flight schedule last year, traffic and capacity would be up 4.8 percent and 6.2 percent respectively.

The passenger load factor for the month was 61.1 percent, compared to 54.8 percent last September. The airline carried 399,200 passengers compared to 274,000 in September 2001.

RPMs for the nine months ended September 2002 totaled 1.128 billion, a 7.4 percent increase from the 1.050 billion recorded a year earlier. Capacity for the nine-month period increased 7.3 percent to 1.795 billion ASMs, compared to 1.674 billion in 2001.

The passenger load factor for the first nine months of 2002 was 62.8 percent, compared to 62.7 percent in 2001. The airline carried 3,620,700 passengers, compared to 3,634,700 in 2001.

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

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