Alaska Air Group Reports December Load Factors

Alaska Air Group Inc (NYSE:ALK), announced on Tuesday that both of its subsidiaries, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, posted improvements in load factor for December 2009.

Revenue passenger miles for Alaska Airlines for the month rose by 8.7% compared to December 2008, while available seat miles were up 5.0%, resulting in an increase in load factor of 2.9 percentage points at 83.6%.

Horizon Air's revenue passenger miles for December 2009 improved by 15.1% compared to the same period of last year, while available seat miles grew by 10.5%, resulting in an increase in load factor of 3.1 percentage points at 75.9%.

December 2008 results for both Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air were impacted by severe weather in the Pacific Northwest of the US.