UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2004

OR

For the transition period from                      to                     

Commission File Number 0-19978

ALASKA AIRLINES, INC.

19300 International Boulevard, Seattle, Washington 98188
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (206) 392-5040

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

Title of Class
Common Stock, $1.00 Par Value

As of December 31, 2004, common shares outstanding totaled 500.

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes þ No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2)
Yes o No þ

The registrant meets the conditions set forth in General Instructions I of Form 10-K and is therefore filing this Form 10-K with the reduced disclosure format. Items 4, 6, 10, 11, 12 and 13 have been omitted in accordance with such Instruction I.

The registrant’s parent, Alaska Air Group, Inc. (File No. 1-8957), files reports with the Commission pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

ALASKA AIRLINES, INC.
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Cautionary Note regarding Forward-Looking Statements

In addition to historical information, this Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Forward-looking statements are those that predict or describe future events or trends and that do not relate solely to historical matters. You can generally identify forward-looking statements as statements containing the words “believe,” “expect,” “will,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “project,” “assume” or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. All statements in this report regarding our future strategy, future operations, projected financial position, estimated future revenues, projected costs, future prospects, and results that might be obtained by pursuing management’s current plans and objectives are forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements because the matters they describe are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond our control. Our forward-looking statements are based on the information currently available to us and speak only as of the date on which this report was filed with the SEC. We expressly disclaim any obligation to issue any updates or revisions to our forward-looking statements, even if subsequent events cause our expectations to change regarding the matters discussed in those statements. Over time, our actual results, performance or achievements will likely differ from the anticipated results, performance or achievements that are expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements, and such differences might be significant and materially adverse to our stockholders. Many important factors that could cause such a difference are described in this Annual Report under the caption “Risk Factors,” under Item 7 below, which you should review carefully. Please consider our forward-looking statements in light of those risks as you read this report.

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PART I

As used in this Form 10-K, the terms “our” and “we” refer to Alaska, unless the content indicates otherwise.

Operations
Alaska Airlines, Inc. is an Alaska corporation that was organized in 1932 and incorporated in 1937. Alaska principally serves 39 cities in six western states (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Arizona) and Canada and nine cities in Mexico. Alaska also provides non-stop service between Seattle and five eastern cities (Washington, D.C., Boston, Miami, Orlando, and Newark), between Seattle and Denver, Seattle and Chicago, between Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. and between Anchorage and Chicago. In each year since 1973, Alaska has carried more passengers between Alaska and the U.S. mainland than any other airline. In 2004, Alaska carried 16.3 million revenue passengers. Passenger traffic within Alaska and between Alaska and the U.S. mainland accounted for 20% of Alaska’s 2004 revenue passenger miles, West Coast traffic (including Canada) accounted for 53%, the Mexico markets accounted for 10% and other markets accounted for 17%. Based on passenger enplanements, Alaska’s leading airports are Seattle, Los Angeles, Portland and Anchorage. Based on 2004 revenues, its leading nonstop routes are Seattle-Anchorage, Seattle-Los Angeles, and Seattle-San Diego. At December 31, 2004, Alaska’s operating fleet consisted of 108 jet aircraft.

We believe we distinguish ourselves from competitors by providing a higher level of customer service in the form of attention to customer needs, advance seat assignments, expedited check-in, well-maintained aircraft, a first-class section aboard our aircraft, and other amenities.

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Industry Conditions
The airline industry is highly competitive. Airline results are sensitive to passenger demand, ticket prices, labor costs and fuel costs. Passenger demand and ticket prices are, to a large measure, influenced by the general state of the economy, current events and industry capacity. Our industry was negatively impacted by weak economic conditions during 2001, 2002 and the first half of 2003, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and continued hostilities in the Middle East. Economic conditions in the second half of 2003 and through 2004 improved somewhat, resulting in stronger demand and higher traffic levels. Due to the industry’s high fixed costs in relation to revenue, a small change in load factors or fare levels has a large impact on profits.

Labor costs generally make up 30% to 40% of an airline’s total operating costs. Most major airlines, including ours, have employee groups who are represented by collective bargaining agents. Often, airlines with unionized work forces have higher labor costs than carriers without unionized work forces, and may not have the ability to adjust labor costs downward fast enough to respond to new competition. Our wage and benefit costs increased 3% in 2004, 11% in 2003 and 10% in 2002.

Fuel prices generally make up 15% to 25% of an airline’s operating costs. Fuel prices can be volatile and largely uncontrollable. In 2004, fuel prices increased significantly. Our economic fuel cost per gallon (which is the net price we pay after the benefit of fuel hedges) increased 39% and 14% in 2004 and 2003, respectively, and decreased 10% in 2002.

The industry is currently in a state of flux. So called “Low Cost Carriers” (LCCs) have grown rapidly in recent years and currently enjoy a 30% share of total passengers carried in the United States. Because of their cost advantage, LCCs have contributed to an overall decline in ticket yields. The lower yield environment, coupled with high fuel costs, has been problematic for the higher cost “Legacy Carriers”, a number of which are operating under bankruptcy court protection. Because of the relatively low barriers to entry, we expect the expansion of low cost and low fare carriers to continue. Some legacy carriers, such as Delta and United, have launched their own low fare airlines (Song and Ted). We compete with many of these carriers now, and expect to compete with additional entrants in the future.

Most major US carriers, including Alaska, are working aggressively to cut operating costs, including renegotiation of collective bargaining agreements and vendor agreements.

As discussed in Note 14 to the financial statements, in April 2003, the Emergency Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Act (the Act) was signed into legislation. The Act includes $2.3 billion of one-time cash payments to air carriers, allocated based on each carrier’s share of security fees remitted and carrier fees paid to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) since its inception in February 2002. Additionally, passenger security fees were not imposed by the TSA and carrier fees were not paid during the period June 1, 2003 through September 30, 2003. In May 2003, we received our share of the one-time cash grant in the amount of $52.8 million.

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MARKETING AND COMPETITION
Alliances with Other Airlines
Alaska has marketing alliances with other airlines that provide reciprocal frequent flyer mileage accrual and redemption privileges and code sharing on certain flights as set forth below. Alliances enhance Alaska’s revenues by offering our customers more travel destinations and better mileage accrual/redemption opportunities, gaining us access to more connecting traffic from other airlines, and providing members of our alliance partners’ frequent flyer programs an opportunity to travel on Alaska while earning mileage credit in our partners’ programs. Alaska’s marketing agreements have various termination dates and at any time, one or more may be in the process of renegotiation. If a significant agreement were terminated, it could adversely impact revenues and increase the costs of our other marketing agreements. Most of our code share relationships are free-sell code shares, where the marketing carrier sells seats on the operating carrier’s flights from the operating carrier’s inventory, but takes no inventory risk. The table below identifies our marketing alliances with other airlines as of December 31, 2004.

Competition
Competition in the airline industry is intense. We believe the principal competitive factors in the industry that are important to customers are:

•

safety record and reputation;

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•	fares;
•	customer service;
•	routes served;
•	flight schedules;
•	frequent flyer programs;
•	on-time arrivals;
•	on-board amenities;
•	type of aircraft and
•	code-sharing relationships.

Any domestic air carrier issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity by the Department of Transportation is allowed to operate scheduled passenger service in the United States. Currently, Alaska carries approximately 2.8% of all U.S. domestic passenger traffic. Alaska and Horizon compete with one or more domestic or foreign airlines on most of their routes, including Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines and regional affiliates associated with some of these carriers. Many of our competitors are substantially larger than Alaska, have greater financial resources, and have more extensive route systems. In addition, continuing growth of low-cost carriers, including Southwest Airlines, AirTran Airways, American Trans Air, Frontier Airlines and jetBlue Airways in the United States places significant competitive pressures on us and other network carriers since they have the ability to charge a lower fare for travel between similar cities and thus exert downward pressure on yields.

We also compete with other airlines for skilled employees such as pilots, flight attendants, ramp service employees, customer service agents and aircraft mechanics.

Ticket Distribution
Airline tickets are distributed through three primary channels:

•	Airline websites such as alaskaair.com. It is less expensive for us to sell through these direct channels and, as a result, we continue to invest heavily in its online capabilities.
•	Telephone reservation call centers.
•	Traditional and online travel agents. Consumer reliance on traditional travel agencies is shrinking, while usage of online travel agencies is increasing. Both traditional and online travel agencies typically use Global Distribution Systems (GDS), such as Sabre, to obtain their fare and inventory data from airlines. Bookings made through these agencies result in a fee, the “GDS fee”, that is charged to the airline.

We currently participate in all of these distribution channels, but we cannot predict the terms on which we may be able to continue to participate in these or other sites, or their effect on our ability to compete with other airlines.

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EMPLOYEES
The airline business is labor intensive. Alaska had 10,850 active full-time and part-time employees at December 31, 2004. Wages, salaries and benefits represented approximately 34% of our total operating expenses in 2004.

At December 31, 2004, labor unions represented 83% of Alaska’s employees. Our relations with our labor organizations are governed by the Railway Labor Act. Under this act, the collective bargaining agreements between the respective airlines and these organizations do not expire but instead become amendable as of a stated date. If either party wishes to modify the terms of any such agreement, it must notify the other party in the manner described in the agreement. After receipt of such notice, the parties must meet for direct negotiations, and if no agreement is reached, either party may request the National Mediation Board to appoint a federal mediator. If no agreement is reached in mediation, the National Mediation Board may declare that an impasse exists, at which point the National Mediation Board proffers binding arbitration to the parties. Either party may decline to submit to arbitration. If arbitration is rejected by either party, a 30-day “cooling off” period commences. During that period, a Presidential Emergency Board may be established, which examines the parties’ positions and recommends a solution. The Presidential Emergency Board process lasts for 30 days and is followed by a “cooling off” period of 30 days. At the end of a “cooling off” period, unless an agreement is reached or action is taken by Congress, the labor organization may strike and the airline may resort to “self-help”, including the imposition of any or all of its proposed amendments and the hiring of workers to replace strikers.

Two of Alaska’s collective bargaining agreements contain provisions for interest arbitration. Under interest arbitration, if the parties have not negotiated the contract by a predetermined date, each side may submit a prescribed number of issues to binding arbitration. The arbitrator’s decision on those issues is incorporated into the collective bargaining agreement, and no strike or company “self-help” may occur.

The collective bargaining agreement with the dispatchers is open for negotiation on wage rates in March 2005. If the parties are unable to reach an agreement, there is an interest arbitration provision related only to wages.

The pilot contract provides that, if an agreement on the entire contract was not reached by December 15, 2004, ten contract issues plus wage rates would be submitted to an interest arbitrator. Issues submitted generally relate to pension plans, medical insurance, profit sharing, code sharing and work rules. The parties did not reach an agreement, and the issues have been submitted to binding arbitration in March 2005 with a decision to be effective in May 2005. The pilot labor contract contains market related standards for wages and non-wage issues.

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Alaska’s union contracts at December 31, 2004 were as follows:

REGULATION
General
The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, as amended, eliminated most domestic economic regulation of passenger and freight transportation. However, the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) still exercise regulatory authority over air carriers. In order to provide passenger and cargo air transportation in the U.S., a domestic airline is required to hold a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Department of Transportation. Subject to certain individual airport capacity, noise and other restrictions, this certificate permits an air carrier to operate between any two points in the U.S. A certificate is of unlimited duration, but may be revoked for failure to comply with federal aviation statutes, regulations, orders or the terms of the certificate itself. In addition, the Department of Transportation maintains jurisdiction over the approval of international code share agreements, alliance agreements between domestic major airlines, international route authorities and certain consumer protection matters, such as advertising, denied boarding compensation and baggage liability.

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The FAA regulates aircraft operations generally, including establishing personnel, maintenance and flight operation standards. Domestic airlines are required to hold a valid air carrier operating certificate issued by the FAA. Pursuant to these regulations, we have established, and the FAA has approved, a maintenance program for each type of aircraft we operate that provides for the ongoing maintenance of such aircraft, ranging from frequent routine inspections to major overhauls. From time to time the FAA issues airworthiness directives (ADs) that must be incorporated into our aircraft. We are and expect to be in compliance with all applicable requirements of these ADs within the required time periods.

The Department of Justice has jurisdiction over airline antitrust matters. The U.S. Postal Service has jurisdiction over certain aspects of the transportation of mail and related services. Labor relations in the air transportation industry are regulated under the Railway Labor Act, which vests in the National Mediation Board (NMB) certain functions with respect to disputes between airlines and labor unions relating to union representation and collective bargaining agreements. To the extent we continue to pursue alliances with international carriers, we may be subject to certain regulations of foreign agencies.

In November 2001, the Aviation and Transportation Security Act (the Security Act) was enacted. The Security Act created a new government agency, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which is now part of the Department of Homeland Security and is responsible for aviation security. The Security Act mandates that the TSA shall provide for the screening of all passengers and property, including U.S. mail, cargo, carry-on and checked baggage, and other articles that will be carried aboard a passenger aircraft. The TSA performs these functions with its own federal employees. On December 31, 2002, the TSA began explosive detection screening of all checked baggage. The TSA also provides for increased security on flight decks of aircraft and requires federal air marshals to be present on certain flights.

Effective February 1, 2002, the Security Act imposed a $2.50 per enplanement security service fee (maximum $5.00 one-way fee) which is collected by the air carriers and submitted to the government to pay for these enhanced security measures. In addition, carriers are required to pay an additional amount to the TSA to cover the total cost of providing security measures equal to the amount the air carriers paid for screening passengers and property in 2000. We paid $9.0 million, $8.4 million and $7.1 million to the TSA for this security charge in 2004, 2003 and 2002, respectively.

Recently, the United States Department of Homeland Security proposed raising the aviation security fee from $2.50 per one-way segment to $5.50 per one-way segment (or maximum of $8 for a one way trip with multiple segments). Although fees and taxes are often viewed by lawmakers as pass through costs, we believe that the demand for air travel is highly sensitive to price. Since all such increases affect the total ticket price paid by consumers, we believe that they would reduce passenger traffic and could have a negative impact on our results.

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The Department of Transportation, under its authority to prevent unfair competitive practices in the industry, has from time to time considered the issuance of pricing and capacity rules that would limit major air carriers’ competitive response to new entrant carriers. Although the Department of Transportation has thus far declined to issue specific competitive guidelines, it reiterated its intent to prevent what it considers to be unfair competitive practices in the industry, and to pursue enforcement actions on a case-by-case basis. To the extent that future Department of Transportation enforcement actions either directly or indirectly impose restrictions upon our ability to respond to competitors, our business may be adversely impacted. Conversely, a relaxation in either unfair competition enforcement or restrictions could limit our ability to enter new markets or harm our operating results for markets that we have recently entered.

Airline Fares
Airlines are permitted to establish their own domestic fares without governmental regulation, and the industry is characterized by vigorous price competition. The Department of Transportation maintains authority over international (generally outside of North America) fares, rates and charges. International fares and rates are also subject to the jurisdiction of the governments of the foreign countries we serve. While air carriers are required to file and adhere to international fare and rate tariffs, substantial commissions, overrides and discounts to travel agents, brokers and wholesalers characterize many international markets.

Legislation, sometimes referred to as the “Passengers’ Bill of Rights,” has been discussed in Congress and state legislatures. This legislation could, if enacted, place various limitations on airline fares and/or affect operating practices such as baggage handling and overbooking. In 1999, we, as well as other domestic airlines, implemented a Customer Service Plan to address a number of service goals, including, but not limited to goals relating to lowest fare availability, delays, cancellations and diversions, baggage delivery and liability, guaranteed fares and ticket refunds.

To the extent legislation is enacted that would inhibit our flexibility with respect to fares, our revenue management system, our operations or other aspects of our customer service operations, our financial results could be adversely affected.

Fare discounting by competitors has historically had a negative effect on our financial results because we generally match competitors’ fares to maintain passenger traffic. During recent years, a number of new low-cost airlines have entered the domestic market and several major airlines, including Alaska and Horizon, implemented efforts to lower their cost structures. Further fare reductions, domestic and international, may occur in the future. If fare reductions are not offset by increases in passenger traffic, cost reductions or changes in the mix of traffic that improves yields, our operating results will be negatively impacted.

In February 2004, Alaska initiated a fare simplification plan whereby a number of restrictions were eliminated and the gap between the highest and lowest fares was reduced. The goal of this initiative was to increase customer value and simplify the customer’s purchase decision by

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reducing the number of fares sold. We believe this initiative was revenue neutral overall.

Airport Access
Heavily used airports may have restrictions with respect to the number of permitted take-offs and landings, the total permitted annual seat capacity to be operated at an airport, the use or allocation of airport slots, or other restrictions. We currently have sufficient authorizations to operate our existing flights and have generally been able to obtain gates to expand our operations and change our schedules. However, we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain authorizations for these purposes in the future, or be able to do so on economical terms.

Environmental Matters
We are subject to various laws and government regulations concerning environmental matters and employee safety and health in the U.S. and other countries. U.S. federal laws that have a particular impact on us include the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990, the Clean Air Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or Superfund Act. We are also subject to the oversight of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, known as OSHA, concerning employee safety and health matters. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, OSHA, and other federal agencies have been authorized to promulgate regulations that have an impact on our operations. In addition to these federal activities, various states have been delegated certain authorities under the aforementioned federal statutes. Many state and local governments have adopted environmental and employee safety and health laws and regulations, some of which are similar to federal requirements. We maintain our own continuing safety, health and environmental programs in order to meet or exceed these requirements.

The Airport Noise and Capacity Act recognizes the rights of airport operators with noise problems to implement local noise abatement programs so long as they do not interfere unreasonably with interstate or foreign commerce or the national air transportation system. Authorities in several cities have promulgated aircraft noise reduction programs, including the imposition of nighttime curfews. The Airport Noise and Capacity Act generally requires FAA approval of local noise restrictions on aircraft. While we have had sufficient scheduling flexibility to accommodate local noise restrictions imposed to date, our operations could be adversely affected if such regulations become more restrictive or widespread.

Although we do not currently anticipate that these regulatory matters, individually or collectively, will have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows, we cannot assure you that new regulations or compliance issues that we do not currently anticipate will not harm our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows in future periods.

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FUEL
Our operations are significantly affected by the availability and price of jet fuel. Fuel costs were approximately 20% of our total operating expenses in 2004 and 15% in 2003. Fuel prices, which can be volatile and which are outside of our control, can have a significant impact on our operating results. Currently, a one-cent change in the fuel price per gallon affects annual fuel costs by approximately $3.5 million. We believe that operating fuel-efficient aircraft helps to mitigate the effect of high fuel prices.

We purchase fuel hedge contracts to reduce our exposure to fluctuations in the price of jet fuel. Due to the competitive nature of the airline industry, airlines often are unable to pass on increased fuel prices to customers by increasing fares. Conversely, any potential benefit of lower fuel prices may be offset by increased fare competition and lower revenues. Because of rising fuel prices, our fuel hedging program has resulted in significant savings over the last three years. See Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” for a discussion of our fuel hedging activities.

While we do not currently anticipate a significant reduction in fuel availability, dependency on foreign imports of crude oil and the possibility of changes in government policy on jet fuel production, transportation and marketing make it impossible to predict the future availability of jet fuel. In the event of significant hostilities or other conflicts in oil producing areas, there could be reductions in the production and/or importation of crude oil and price increases, which could adversely affect our business. If there were major reductions in the availability of jet fuel, our business would be adversely affected.

FREQUENT FLYER PROGRAM
All major airlines have developed frequent flyer programs as a way of increasing passenger loyalty. Alaska’s Mileage Plan allows members to earn mileage by flying on Alaska, Horizon and other participating airlines, and by using the services of non-airline partners, which include a credit card partner, telephone companies, hotels, and car rental agencies. Alaska is paid by non-airline partners for the miles it credits to member accounts. With advance notice, Alaska has the ability to change the Mileage Plan terms, conditions, partners, mileage credits, and award levels or terminate the program.

Mileage can be redeemed for free or discounted travel and for other travel industry awards. Upon accumulating the necessary mileage, members notify Alaska of their award selection. Over 75% of the free flight awards on Alaska and Horizon are subject to blackout dates and capacity-controlled seating. Mileage Plan accounts are generally deleted after three years of inactivity in that member’s account. As of December 31, 2004 and 2003, Alaska estimated that 2,493,000 and 2,353,000, respectively, round-trip flight awards were eligible for redemption by Mileage Plan members who have mileage credits exceeding the 20,000-mile free round-trip domestic ticket award threshold. Of those eligible awards, Alaska estimated that approximately 88% of those awards would ultimately be redeemed. For the years 2004, 2003 and 2002, approximately 631,000, 606,000, and 441,000 round-trip flight awards were redeemed and flown on Alaska and Horizon.

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Those awards represent approximately 7.3% for 2004, 8.7% for 2003 and 6.8% for 2002 of the total passenger miles flown on Alaska and Horizon for each period. For the years 2004, 2003 and 2002, approximately 212,000, 174,000 and 174,000, respectively, round-trip flight awards were redeemed and flown on airline partners.

For miles earned by flying on Alaska and travel partners, the estimated incremental cost of providing free travel awards is recognized as a selling expense and accrued as a liability as miles are accumulated. The incremental cost does not include a contribution to overhead, aircraft cost, or profit. Alaska also sells mileage credits to non-airline partners, such as hotels, car rental agencies, and a national bank that rewards users of its credit card. Alaska defers a majority of the sales proceeds, and recognizes these proceeds as revenue when the award transportation is provided on Alaska or another partner airline. The deferred proceeds are recognized as passenger revenue for awards issued and flown on Alaska or Horizon and as other revenue-net for awards issued and flown on other airlines. At December 31, 2004 and 2003, the deferred revenue and the total liability for providing free travel on Alaska and Horizon and for estimated payments to partner airlines was $409.3 million and $336.0 million, respectively, the majority of which is deferred revenue from the sale of mileage credits. Deferred revenue and liabilities associated with the Mileage Plan are carried on Alaska’s balance sheet since Alaska is the sponsor and ticketing carrier.

OTHER INFORMATION
Seasonality and Other Factors
Our results of operations for any interim period are not necessarily indicative of those for the entire year, because our business is subject to seasonal fluctuations. Our operating income is generally lowest (or loss the greatest) during the first and fourth quarters due principally to lower traffic and sometimes due to adverse weather conditions, generally increases in the second quarter and generally reaches its highest level during the third quarter.

The airline industry is characterized generally by low profit margins and high fixed costs, primarily for wages, aircraft fuel, debt service and rent. The expenses of an aircraft flight do not vary significantly with the number of passengers carried and, as a result, a relatively small change in the number of passengers or in pricing has a disproportionate effect on an airline’s operating and financial results. Accordingly, a minor shortfall in expected revenue levels could cause a disproportionately negative impact on our operating results. In addition to passenger loads, factors that could cause our quarterly operating results to vary include:

	•	changes in fuel, security and insurance costs,
	•	increases in personnel, marketing, aircraft ownership and other operating expenses to support our existing operation and anticipated growth,
	•	the timing and amount of maintenance expenditures,
	•	the timing and success of our growth plan as we increase flights in existing markets and enter new markets and

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•

pricing initiatives, both internal and external.

In addition, seasonal variations in traffic, various expenditures and weather affect our operating results from quarter to quarter. Given our high proportion of fixed costs, seasonality can affect our profitability from quarter to quarter. Many of our areas of operations experience inclement weather conditions in the winter, causing increased costs associated with deicing aircraft, canceled flights and accommodating displaced passengers. Due to our geographic area of operations, we can be more susceptible to adverse weather conditions than some of our competitors (particularly in the State of Alaska and in the Pacific Northwest), who may be better able to spread weather-related risks over larger route systems.

The results of operations in the air transportation business have also significantly fluctuated in the past in response to general economic conditions. Fare initiatives, fluctuations in fuel prices, labor actions and other factors could impact this seasonal pattern.

No material part of our business or that of our subsidiaries is dependent upon a single customer or very few customers. Consequently, the loss of our largest few customers would not have a materially adverse effect upon our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Insurance
We carry insurance for passenger liability, property damage and hull insurance for damage to our aircraft, in amounts and of the type generally consistent with industry practice.

As a result of the events of September 11, 2001, aviation insurers have significantly reduced the maximum amount of insurance coverage available to commercial air carriers for third-party liability for claims resulting from acts of terrorism, war or similar events. At the same time, they significantly increased the premiums for such coverage as well as for aviation insurance in general. Although insurance rates have declined, they are still somewhat above pre-September 11 levels and will likely remain there for the foreseeable future.

Pursuant to authority granted in the Air Transportation Safety and System Stabilization Act, the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005, the Government has offered, and we have accepted, war risk insurance to replace commercial war risk insurance through August 31, 2005.

Other Government Matters
We have elected to participate in the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program, whereby we have agreed to make available to the federal government a certain number of aircraft in the event of a military call-up. The government would reimburse us for the use of such aircraft.

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ITEM 2.    PROPERTIES
Aircraft
The following tables describe the aircraft we operate and their average age at December 31, 2004:

Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” discusses future orders and options for additional aircraft.

32 of the 60 aircraft owned by Alaska as of December 31, 2004 are subject to liens securing long-term debt. The Company expects to have additional aircraft encumbered pending a re-negotiated credit facility. Alaska’s leased 737-200C, 737-400, 737-700 and MD-80 aircraft have lease expiration dates in 2006, between 2006 and 2016, between 2006 and 2020 and between 2007 and 2013, respectively. Alaska has the option to extend most of the leases for additional periods, or the right to purchase the aircraft at the end of the lease term, usually at the then fair market value of the aircraft. For information regarding obligations under capital leases and long-term operating leases, see Note 6 to Financial Statements.

At December 31, 2004, all of our aircraft met the Stage 3 noise requirements under the Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990. However, special noise ordinances restrict the timing of flights operated by Alaska and other airlines at Burbank, Long Beach, Orange County, San Diego, San Jose and Palm Springs. In addition, Orange County, Reagan National, O’Hare and Long Beach airports restrict the type of aircraft and number of flights.

Ground Facilities and Services
Alaska leases ticket counters, gates, cargo and baggage space, office space, and other support areas at the majority of the airports they serve. Alaska also owns terminal buildings in various cities in the state of Alaska.

Alaska has centralized operations in several buildings located at or near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) in Seattle, Washington. The owned buildings, including land unless located on leased airport property, include a three-bay hangar facility with maintenance shops, a flight operations and training center, an air cargo facility, an information processing center, several office buildings and our corporate headquarters. Alaska also leases a two-bay

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hangar/office facility at Sea-Tac, a warehouse and reservation/office facility in Kent, WA, and a reservation center in Boise, ID. Alaska’s other major facilities include a regional headquarters building, an air cargo facility, and a leased hangar/office facility in Anchorage; a reservations center in Phoenix; and a leased two-bay maintenance facility in Oakland.

ITEM 3.    LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
We are a party to routine litigation incidental to our business and with respect to which no material liability is expected. Management believes the ultimate disposition of these matters is not likely to materially affect our financial position or results of operations. This forward-looking statement is based on management’s current understanding of the relevant law and facts; it is subject to various contingencies, including the potential costs and risks associated with litigation and the actions of judges and juries.

Our existing pilot contract provides that, if a negotiated agreement on the entire contract was not reached by December 15, 2004, ten contract issues plus wage rates would be submitted to an interest arbitrator. Issues submitted generally relate to pension plans, medical insurance, profit sharing, code sharing and work rules. The parties did not reach an agreement, and the issues have been submitted to binding arbitration in March 2005 with a decision to be effective in May 2005. The pilot labor contract contains market related standards for wages and non-wage issues.

PART II

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Alaska Airlines Financial and Statistical Data

NM = Not Meaningful

(a) See Note A on page 17.

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Note A:
Pursuant to Item 10 of Regulation S-K, we are providing disclosure of the reconciliation of reported non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable financial measures reported on a GAAP basis. The non-GAAP financial measures provide management the ability to measure and monitor performance both with and without the cost of aircraft fuel (including the gains and losses associated with our fuel hedging program where appropriate), restructuring charges, aircraft impairment charges, government compensation in 2003 and a large recovery in 2004 of disputed navigation fees paid in prior years (of which $7.7 million was recorded in operating expenses and $3.3 million was recorded in non-operating income). Because the cost and availability of aircraft fuel are subject to many economic and political factors beyond our control and we record changes in the fair value of our hedge portfolio in our income statement, it is our view that the measurement and monitoring of performance without fuel is important.

The following tables reconcile our non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures for Alaska Airlines, Inc.: