Alaska Air Group Reports Record First Quarter Results

SEATTLE, April 21, 2011 /PRNewswire/ —

First quarter highlights:

• Record first-quarter net income, excluding special items, of $29.5 million, or $0.80 per diluted share—more than double the $13.1 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, reported in the first quarter of 2010. This compares to a First Call mean estimate of $0.71 per share.
• Net income under Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) of $74.2 million, or $2.01 per diluted share, compared to net income of $5.3 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, in 2010.
• Air Group posts a 16 percent improvement in revenues compared to the first quarter of 2010.
• Air Group reduces non-fuel unit costs by 6.3 percent.
• Employee productivity improves 8 percent compared to the first quarter of 2010.
• Air Group remains well hedged against rising oil prices, saving $12.5 million in the first quarter.
• Air Group held $1.0 billion in unrestricted cash and marketable securities as of March 31, 2011.
• Air Group prepaid $52 million of long-term debt during the quarter. Adjusted debt-to-total capitalization ratio now stands at 65 percent—the lowest since 1999.
• Air Group trailing 12-month return on invested capital is 11.3 percent.
• Beginning Jan. 1, 2011, Horizon Air began operating 100 percent of its flights under a capacity purchase agreement with Alaska Airlines. Four Horizon Q400 aircraft now feature the Alaska livery.
• Alaska Airlines holds the No. 1 spot in U.S. Department of Transportation on-time performance among the 10 largest U.S. airlines for the 12 months ending in February.
• Air Group completed its current $50 million share repurchase program in early April. Since 2007, Air Group has repurchased approximately 7.6 million shares at an average price of $28 per share.
• Alaska‘s employees represented by the International Association of Machinists, including customer service and reservation agents and certain clerical staff, ratified a new contract on Jan. 31. Alaska reached tentative agreement on a new contract with its dispatchers, represented by the Transport Workers Union, on March 24.

Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK) today reported first quarter 2011 net income of $74.2 million, or $2.01 per diluted share, compared to net income of $5.3 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, in the first quarter of 2010. Excluding mark-to-market fuel hedge gains of $82.0 million ($51.0 million after tax, or $1.38 per diluted share) and CRJ-700 fleet transition costs of $10.1 million ($6.3 million after tax, or $0.17 per diluted share), the company reported record first quarter 2011 net income of $29.5 million, or $0.80 per diluted share, compared to net income of $13.1 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, excluding special items, in the first quarter of 2010.

"We are pleased to report a record first quarter profit. This quarter’s results are due to strong passenger demand leading to a 16 percent, or $136 million, improvement in revenue. This profit is especially gratifying given the significant increase in fuel costs," Chairman and CEO Bill Ayer said. "As we look ahead, fuel prices will be an even bigger challenge, but we are well positioned with our efficient fleet, diversified network and the fundamental changes we’ve made to our business over the past several years. Our people are operating a great airline and their hard work is paying off."

The following table reconciles the company’s adjusted net income and earnings per diluted share (EPS) during the first quarters of 2011 and 2010 to amounts as reported in accordance with GAAP (in millions except per-share amounts):

Statistical data, as well as a reconciliation of the reported non-GAAP financial measures, can be found in the accompanying tables. A glossary of financial terms can be found at the end of this release.

A conference call regarding the first quarter results will be simulcast via the Internet at 8:30 a.m. Pacific time on April 21. It can be accessed through the company’s website at www.alaskaair.com/investors. For those unable to listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available after the conclusion of the call at www.alaskaair.com/investors.

References in this news release to "Air Group," "company," "we," "us" and "our" refer to Alaska Air Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, unless otherwise specified. Alaska Airlines, Inc. and Horizon Air Industries, Inc. are referred to as "Alaska" and "Horizon," respectively, and together as our "airlines."

This news release may contain forward-looking statements subject to the safe harbor protection provided by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to future events and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual outcomes to be materially different from those indicated by any forward-looking statements. For a comprehensive discussion of potential risk factors, see Item 1A of the company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2010. Some of these risks include current economic conditions, increases in operating costs including fuel, competition, labor costs and relations, seasonal fluctuations in our financial results, an aircraft accident, and changes in laws and regulations. All of the forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the risk factors discussed therein. We operate in a continually changing business environment, and new risk factors emerge from time to time. Management cannot predict such new risk factors, nor can it assess the impact, if any, of such new risk factors on our business or events described in any forward-looking statements. We expressly disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after the date of this report to conform them to actual results. 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.

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK), together serve more than 90 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. Alaska Airlines ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Network Carriers" in the J.D. Power and Associates 2008, 2009 and 2010 North America Airline Satisfaction Studies(SM). For reservations, visit alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at alaskaair.com/newsroom.

Glossary of Terms

ASM – available seat miles, or "capacity" – represents total seats available across the fleet multiplied by the number of miles flown

RPM – revenue passenger miles, or "traffic" – the number of those available seats that were filled with paying passengers; one passenger traveling one mile is one RPM

RASM – total operating revenue divided by ASMs; operating revenue includes all passenger revenue, freight & mail, Mileage Plan, and other ancillary revenue; commonly called "unit revenue" and represents the average total revenue for flying one seat one mile

PRASM – passenger revenue per ASM; commonly called "passenger unit revenue"

Yield – passenger revenue per RPM; this represents the average revenue for flying one passenger one mile

CASM – total operating costs per ASM; this represents all operating expenses including fuel and special items; commonly called "unit cost"

CASMex – operating costs excluding fuel and special items per ASM; this metric is used to help track progress toward reduction of non-fuel operating costs since fuel is largely out of our control

Economic fuel – best estimate of the cash cost of fuel, net of the impact of our fuel-hedging program

Mainline – represents flying on Alaska jets and all associated revenues and costs

Regional – represents operations whereby Horizon and, to a much lesser extent, another small carrier in the state of Alaska fly certain routes for Alaska using Horizon’s or the other carrier’s fleets

Diluted Earnings per Share – represents earnings per share using fully diluted shares outstanding

Diluted Shares – represents the total number of shares that would be outstanding if all possible sources of conversion, such as stock options, were exercised.

Note A: Pursuant to Regulation G, 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. We believe that consideration of these non-GAAP financial measures may be important to investors for the following reasons:

• By eliminating fuel expense and certain special items from our cost and unit cost metrics, we believe that we have better visibility into the results of our non-fuel cost-reduction initiatives. Our industry is highly competitive and is characterized by high fixed costs, so even a small reduction in non-fuel operating costs can result in a significant improvement in operating results. In addition, we believe that all domestic carriers are similarly impacted by changes in jet fuel costs over the long run, so it is important for management (and thus investors) to understand the impact of (and trends in) company-specific cost drivers such as labor rates and productivity, airport costs, maintenance costs, etc., which are more controllable by management.
• Cost per ASM (CASM) excluding fuel and certain special items is one of the most important measures used by management and by the Air Group Board of Directors in assessing quarterly and annual cost performance.
• Adjusted Income before Income Taxes and CASM excluding fuel (and other items as specified in our plan documents) are important metrics for the employee incentive plan that covers all Air Group employees.
• CASM excluding fuel and certain special items is a measure commonly used by industry analysts, and we believe it is the basis by which they compare our airlines to others in the industry. The measure is also the subject of frequent questions from investors.
• Disclosure of the individual impact of certain noted items provides investors the ability to measure and monitor performance both with and without these special items. We believe that disclosing the impact of certain items, such as fleet transition costs, is important because it provides information on significant items that are not necessarily indicative of future performance. Industry analysts and investors consistently measure our performance without these items for better comparability between periods and among other airlines.
• Although we disclose our passenger unit revenues, we do not (nor are we able to) evaluate unit revenues excluding the impact that changes in fuel costs have had on ticket prices. Fuel expense represents a large percentage of our total operating expenses. Fluctuations in fuel prices often drive changes in unit revenues in the mid-to-long term. Although we believe it is useful to evaluate non-fuel unit costs for the reasons noted above, we would caution readers of these financial statements not to place undue reliance on unit costs excluding fuel as a measure or predictor of future profitability because of the significant impact of fuel costs on our business.

Note B: Air Group’s operations are treated as an integrated route network intended to maximize the results of the company. However, the Company has historically had two primary operating and reporting segments, consisting of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, for which separate financial information is available and regularly evaluated by our chief operating decision maker in deciding how to allocate resources and assess performance.

Alaska operates a fleet of passenger jets ("mainline operations") and contracts with affiliated (Horizon) and non-affiliated third party carriers for regional capacity under which Alaska receives all passenger revenue from those flights.  Horizon operates a fleet of turboprop and regional jet aircraft and sells all of its capacity to Alaska pursuant to a capacity purchase arrangement (the Horizon CPA). The Horizon CPA reflects what the Company believes are current market rates received by other regional carriers for similar flying. Amounts paid by Alaska to Horizon are available to pay for various Horizon operating expenses such as crew expenses, maintenance, and aircraft ownership costs.

Effective January 1, 2011, Horizon’s business model changed such that 100% of it’s capacity is sold to Alaska under the Horizon CPA. As is typical for similar arrangements, certain costs such landing fees, selling and distribution costs, and fuel costs directly related to regional flights operated by Horizon are now recorded by Alaska. Because of this change, Horizon’s revenues and expenses and Alaska‘s Regional revenues and expenses have changed significantly on a year over year basis.

All inter-company revenues and expenses are eliminated in consolidated, and these changes have no impact on our consolidated results.

SOURCE Alaska Air Group Inc.