Alaska Airlines Unveils New Aircraft.

• Author: GARLAND, MARSHA
• Position: Brief Article

A new plane for Alaska Airlines will provide lower seat-per-mile cost due to lower operating cost for the airline.

Providing timely, comfortable and safe travel has become a multimillion dollar industry for cruise lines, recreation vehicles and airlines. The competition between these industries and their suppliers promises the traveling public increased comfort and greater value for their money.

In a comprehensive overview of Alaska's Visitor Industry, conducted in August 1998, visitors traveling to Alaska by domestic air grew substantially from 1989 to 1997, increasing by an estimated 248,000, or an average of 7.6 percent. The study also showed domestic air travel produced the highest total visitor spending in Alaska at $611 million between 1996 and 1997.

To meet current and future passenger needs, Alaska Airlines will take delivery of the first of 10 737-900 "Next Generation" aircraft from Boeing Commercial Airplane Group in April 2001 to be flown on the Lower 48/Anchorage/Fairbanks routes.

The 737-900 design provides amore cost-effective operating platform, offering passengers the lowest dual-class, seat-per-mile cost available in a single-aisle airplane. The passenger capacity on the 737-900 has increased from the 146 dual-class seating currently utilized on the Lower 48 to Alaska route (737-400) to 177 dual-class seating.

Steve Ford, Boeing Next...