Alaska Air Group Announces Preliminary Results of Shareholder Vote at Annual Meeting

Alaska Air Group, Inc. announced the preliminary results of shareholder voting at the company’s annual meeting yesterday in Seattle.

A substantial majority of shareholders approved the following management proposals:

  --  By a vote of at least 88 percent, shareholders elected each of Alaska
      Air Group's nine directors to serve a one-year term.
  --  By a vote of 98 percent, shareholders certified KPMG LLP as Alaska Air
      Group's independent auditor for 2009.
  --  By a vote of 96 percent, shareholders ratified the compensation for
      the company's named executive officers.

A shareholder proposal to give holders of 10 percent of Alaska Air Group’s outstanding common stock the power to call special shareholder meetings received 66 percent of shareholder votes. Alaska Air Group’s board of directors said it will consider this proposal in its ongoing review of the company’s corporate governance practices.

Earlier this year, Alaska Air Group became one of the first public companies in the nation to voluntarily solicit shareholder input on executive compensation through an advisory resolution. "This decision reflects Alaska Air Group’s ongoing commitment to fair and transparent pay practices at all levels of the organization," said Phyllis Campbell, chair of the compensation committee of Alaska Air Group’s board of directors and chairman of the Pacific Northwest Region of JPMorgan Chase & Co. "The substantial majority of shareholders who ratified the company’s executive compensation is a vote of confidence in a long-established pay structure that we believe effectively aligns executives’ interests with those of shareholders, customers and employees, and rewards performance that benefits these key stakeholders."

The company’s first-ever shareholder advisory, or so-called "say on pay," resolution on executive compensation will inform the board of directors’ future decisions on executive compensation.

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group , together serve more than 90 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. For reservations, visit alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at alaskaair.com/newsroom.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: maria.koenig@alaskaair.com

SOURCE: Alaska Air Group, Inc.