Alaska Airlines: airline vows commitment to its namesake while competing nationwide.

• Author: Pounds, Nancy
• Position: Corporate 100 Company - Company Profile

Alaska Airlines, which traces its roots to the state's 1930s Bush-pilot era, now gives wings to bigger visions, landing in major U.S. cities like Washington, D.C., and Chicago.

"We're just very proud of our name," said Bill MacKay, Alaska Airlines' senior vice president in Alaska. "We're proud to go into East Coast markets, taking the smiling Eskimo (airplane tail trademark) from the Barrows and Kotzebues of this world to these big cities."

The Seattle-based company now ranks as the nation's ninth largest airline, MacKay said.

"We're pleased to be a major airline, yet we're painfully aware we're now on the small side of the 10 majors," MacKay said.

The company is continually looking for ways to stay competitive, despite current challenges from new low-cost airlines and escalating fuel prices, he said.

MAJOR PLAYER IN THE STATE

Regardless of eastward expansion, MacKay asserts Alaska Airlines' ties to the Last Frontier are steadfast.

"With Alaska Airlines being the state's major provider, we're very important to the economic well-being of the state," he said.

The airline, which flies to Anchorage and 19 other cities statewide, is a significant employer in several towns and plays an important role providing goods and service via its cargo business.

"We take that very seriously," MacKay said.

Since the early 1970s, Alaska Airlines has carried more Alaskans than any other airline. In fact, the company's busiest route is the Anchorage-Seattle route with 20 flights daily each way, followed distantly by the Seattle-Los Angeles route with 12 daily flights each way. The Fairbanks-Anchorage route ranks third with 11 to 12 daily flights north and south.

Alaska Airlines is the state's fifth largest employer, according to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development's most recent statistics. Most of the company's 1,600 employees work in Anchorage.

However, Alaska Airlines, like other U.S. air carriers, has made changes to overcome challenges, including rising fuel prices, which in 2003 accounted for nearly 15 percent of operating expenses.

In September, the company announced an 8 percent reduction in its l l,000-person work force or about 900 jobs, including 151 in Alaska.

But the airline's top Alaska-based employee emphasizes its commitment to the state.

"It's our intention to be here for a long time to come," MacKay said.

Of the company's $2.2 billion in 2004 revenue, 25 percent is business from Alaskans, MacKay said.

The airline currently...