SEATTLE, Jan. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- 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 a 6.5 percent increase in traffic on a 4.5 percent increase in capacity compared to December 2012. This resulted in a 1.7-point increase in load factor, to a record 88.0 percent. Alaska also reported 85.5 percent of its flights arrived on time in December, compared to the 83.3 percent reported in December 2012. For the full-year 2013, Alaska reported a load factor of 86.1 percent and carried a record 19.7 million passengers.

The following table shows Alaska's operational results for December and full-year 2013, compared to the prior-year periods:



                       December                   Year-to-Date
                       --------                   ------------

                 2013            2012  Change          2013     2012   Change
                 ----            ----  ------          ----     ----   ------

     Revenue
     passengers
     (in
     thousands) 1,672           1,549        8.0%     19,737   18,526        6.5%

     Revenue
     passenger
     miles
     RPM
     (in
     millions)  2,243           2,105        6.5%     26,172   24,417        7.2%

     Available
     seat
     miles
     ASM
     (in
     millions)  2,550           2,440        4.5%     30,411   28,180        7.9%

     Passenger
     load                                                                  pts
     factor      88.0%           86.3%   1.7 pts        86.1%    86.6%      (0.5)

    On-
     time                                                                  pts
     arrivals
     as
     reported
     to
     U.S.
     DOT         85.5%           83.3%   2.2 pts        87.2%    87.5%      (0.3)

HORIZON AIR

Horizon reported a 3.9 percent increase in December traffic on flat capacity compared to December 2012. This resulted in a 3.1-point increase in load factor, to a December record of 82.5 percent. Horizon also reported 78.5 percent of its flights arrived on time in December, compared to the 85.2 percent reported in December 2012. For the full-year 2013, Horizon reported a record load factor of 80.8 percent and carried 7.1 million passengers.

The following table shows Horizon's operational results for December and full-year 2013, compared to the prior-year periods:



                    December                    Year-to-Date
                    --------                    ------------

                2013         2012  Change             2013   2012   Change
                ----         ----  ------             ----   ----   ------

     Revenue
     passengers
     (in
     thousands)  621          586        5.9%         7,099  6,781         4.7%

    RPMs
     (in
     millions)   186          179        3.9%         2,163  2,090         3.5%

    ASMs
     (in
     millions)   226          226          -  %       2,678  2,669         0.3%

     Passenger
     load
     factor     82.5%        79.4%   3.1 pts           80.8%  78.3%    2.5 pts

    On-
     time                             pts                               pts
     arrivals   78.5%        85.2%     (6.7)           87.9%  91.0%      (3.1)

AIR GROUP (including flights operated by third parties)

On a combined basis, Air Group reported a 6.7 percent increase in traffic on a 4.6 percent increase in capacity compared to December 2012. This resulted in a 1.8-point increase in load factor to a record 87.5 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.

The following table shows the operational results for December and full-year 2013, compared to the prior-year periods:



                       December                   Full Year
                       --------                   ---------

                 2013            2012  Change        2013    2012   Change
                 ----            ----  ------        ----    ----   ------

     Revenue
     passengers
     (in
     thousands) 2,351           2,181        7.8%   27,414  25,896        5.9%

    RPMs
     (in
     millions)  2,481           2,324        6.7%   28,833  27,007        6.8%

    ASMs
     (in
     millions)  2,836           2,712        4.6%   33,672  31,428        7.1%

     Passenger
     load                                                               pts
     factor      87.5%           85.7%   1.8 pts      85.6%   85.9%      (0.3)

Alaska Airlines, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK), together with its partner regional airlines, serves nearly 100 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. Alaska Airlines has ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Network Carriers" in the J.D. Power and Associates North America Airline Satisfaction Study(SM) for six consecutive years from 2008 to 2013. For reservations, visit www.alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines Newsroom at www.alaskaair.com/newsroom.

SOURCE Alaska Air Group