Alaska Airlines Expands Texas Service With Seattle-Austin Flights Starting Today

Alaska Airlines is expanding its service to the Lone Star State with new daily flights between Seattle and Austin, Texas, starting today and daily service between San Jose, Calif., and Austin commencing Sept. 2. The airline also will offer daily Seattle-Houston nonstops beginning Sept. 23.

"Alaska Airlines has been serving Dallas/Fort Worth from Seattle since 2005, and we’re excited to be adding Austin to our network starting today," said Andrew Harrison, Alaska’s vice president of planning and revenue management.

Referring to the airline’s upcoming Houston service and San Jose-Austin flight, which will originate in Portland, Ore., Harrison said, "Come fall, Alaska Airlines will not only serve three Texas cities nonstop from Seattle, we’ll also restore convenient service to high-tech business travelers commuting between Austin, the Silicon Valley and Portland."

  Summary of new flights
  Start date  City pair          Departure time  Arrival time  Day of week

  Aug. 3      Seattle-Austin     9:45 a.m.       3:40 p.m.     Daily
  Aug. 3      Austin-Seattle     4:40 p.m.       6:45 p.m.     Daily
  Sept. 2     Portland-San Jose  6:20 a.m.       8:10 a.m.     Daily,
                                                                except Sun
  Sept. 2     San Jose-Austin    8:55 a.m.       2:15 p.m.     Daily
  Sept. 2     Austin-San Jose    3 p.m.          4:40 p.m.     Daily
  Sept. 2     San Jose-Portland  5:25 p.m.       7:10 p.m.     Daily,
                                                                except Sat
  Sept. 23    Seattle-Houston    9 a.m.          3:20 p.m.     Daily
  Sept. 23    Houston-Seattle    4:30 p.m.       7:05 p.m.     Daily

  All times based on local time zones

Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members can earn double miles on the new flights between Seattle and Austin through Oct. 15, 2009, between San Jose and Austin through Oct. 31, 2009, and between Seattle and Houston through Nov. 23, 2009. To qualify, customers must first register at alaskaair.com.

Alaska Airlines will operate the flights with Boeing 737-800 aircraft, accommodating 16 passengers in first class and 141 in the main cabin. Seattle-Austin, San Jose-Austin and Seattle-Houston flights will offer Alaska’s Northern Bites meals-for-purchase service, which allows coach passengers to buy a meal onboard for $6. Inflight service also will include Alaska Airlines’ digEplayer, a personal entertainment system offering a variety of movies, television shows, music and other features. Complimentary in first class, digEplayers are available for $6 in coach.

The new flights are available at alaskaair.com or by calling (800) ALASKAAIR (800-252-7522 or TTY/TDD line 800-392-0228).

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. Alaska Airlines ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Traditional Network Carriers" in the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 and 2009 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.

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

SOURCE: Alaska Airlines