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From glen to table: Scotland’s hunter-gatherer chef

Scotland's hunter-gatherer chef

“Come here girls!!!”

I leap out of the pick-up truck parked haphazardly on the side of a too narrow country road and scamper up a muddy bank.

“Oh, I wasn’t talking to you,” Tom Lewis tells me. “I was yelling for the pigs. Come on girls. Get your dinner!!”

Before I can return to the truck, a hoard of hungry beasts barrel down the mountain towards Tom, kicking up mud and dung and grass in their wake, stopping just before they trample us into the ground. He dumps their food onto the mud (peelings and leftovers from the kitchens of his restaurants) and the frenzy begins. After their dinner, the pigs will roam around 80 acres. Not a bad life for a pig raised to be bacon or pulled pork in one of the top restaurants in Scotland.

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Fun fact: Alaska was first U.S. airline to sell tickets online

This news release was originally issued on Dec. 27, 1995, and is reposted here in its entirety in honor of Internet Day Oct. 29, which commemorates the day when computers at UCLA and Stanford first made a host-to-host connection.  Alaska was the first airline in the U.S. to explore the uncharted world of the Internet, with a homemade web site that allowed customers to book tickets online.

Alaska’s spokesperson at the time, Greg Witter, wrote the press release with the breaking news of Alaska’s new capability. He revealed that there was a bit of trepidation, after an initial test of the much-ballyhooed technology failed miserably.  Reliability wasn’t a given, thus the quote in the release by then CEO Bill Ayer that the transaction could take “from three to 10 minutes.”

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Honoring those who serve: Alaska Airlines unveils its newest livery

Alaska Airlines Tribute to Veterans Livery Flyaway

By offering complimentary travel to veterans on Honor Flights, priority boarding for active duty military and donations to numerous non-profit military organizations, Alaska Airlines has long been a proud supporter of the United States military. But today, Alaska unveiled its largest (and heaviest) honor to date – a Boeing 737-900ER with a customized paint job to honor the brave men and women of the armed forces and their families.

The livery is part of a new initiative called “Alaska Airlines Salutes,” which combines the many employee-led efforts to support and honor those who serve. The design features an Alaska Airlines Salutes medallion and a fallen soldier badge, with the Battlefield Cross to honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. The plane also features five rings surrounding the engine, representative of the five branches of the United States military, and American flag winglets.

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Prettier in pink: Designer breast cancer awareness neckwear takes flight

Alaska Airlines employees model breast cancer awareness scarves and ties

Frontline Alaska employees have added a splash of pink to their uniforms this month to honor Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The custom-designed neckwear, dubbed “Ribbons in Flight,” was designed by Alaska’s uniform designer Luly Yang, and the scarves and ties are her first signature piece for the airline.

“Our employees are passionate about breast cancer awareness, and we were excited that Luly could design a custom uniform piece for the cause,” said Sangita Woerner, Alaska’s vice president of marketing.

The pink scarves and ties are adorned with tiny breast-cancer awareness ribbons, and have been worn by customer service agents and flight crew members since the beginning of October for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLUKd0SDmFe/

“I think it’s beautiful how Alaska has supported this cause – beautiful for its employees, male and female,” says Lisa Rhodes, an Alaska Airlines flight attendant and breast cancer survivor. “It’s a wonderful tribute to our passengers and our loved ones.”

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How to spot a scam ticket giveaway

Several times each year, Alaska’s social media team sees an influx of bogus promotions from websites pretending to be Alaska Airlines. These websites claim to offer free roundtrip tickets, but these are scams that are not affiliated with Alaska Airlines and may put you at risk for computer viruses or identity theft. How can you tell a legitimate promotion from a scam promotion? Here are a few things to look out for before you decide to enter a contest.

Update 1/7/18: We have a SCAM promotion (see below) making the rounds. Please do not share this promotion. We will work towards getting it shut down.

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Weekend Wanderer: Seattle to Denver

Danny Owens Weekend Wanderer

From capturing portraits to exploring landscapes, Danny Owens has what it takes to highlight the best of every place he visits. He just returned from an Instagram takeover in Denver, Colorado as part of Alaska Airlines’ Weekend Wanderer series. For more Weekend Wanderer posts, make sure you’re following Alaska Airlines on Instagram.

I travel constantly. In fact, in the past three weeks I’ve only been home for one full day.

This isn’t a bad thing – I love traveling. It ignites my passion for adventure each and every time I set foot in a new place or rediscover somewhere I’ve been before.

From the moment you step off a plane, a new world of discovery and experiences is yours for the taking.

Because I travel so often for work, I’m typically not in any one city or location for very long, but I want to make sure that I make my time count and experience as much as I can.

As a Weekend Wanderer for Alaska Airlines I was challenged with just that task. Experience the city of Denver within the span of a weekend.

Danny Owens is traveling from Seattle to Denver as Weekend Wanderer
I’ve been home all of one day and I’m already heading out on some new travels tomorrow! I’m really stoked to be flying to Denver tomorrow with @alaskaair as a #WeekendWanderer !! I’ll be taking over their account so be sure to head over and follow along while I explore the mile high city.

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Travel alert: Alaska Airlines prepares for PNW storm

Updated Sunday, Oct. 16, 9:30 a.m.

No additional cancellations are planned for today.

Updated Saturday, Oct. 15, 2:40 p.m.

Alaska’s system operations continues to closely monitor the Pacific Northwest storm and developing weather system.

In severe weather situations like this one, Alaska will only operate flights when it is safe to do so. This afternoon, Alaska will operate a reduced schedule of flights into Seattle and Portland in order to err on the side of caution. The airline has proactively reduced flying into Seattle between 6 and 9 p.m. and have cancelled 53 flights to Seattle and Portland today.

Customers began to receive notifications of cancellations on Friday, and Alaska and Horizon Air have increased staffing as employees work to reaccomodate the 4,200 passengers affected by these cancellations.

As a reminder, there is a flexible travel policy in place to give customers traveling to or through Seattle and Portland today the ability to reschedule their travel. Customers with tickets booked before  Oct. 14, 2016, scheduled for travel between Oct. 14 and Oct. 16, can change their travel plans without incurring a change fee or can request to refund their ticket. Learn more at alaskaair.com.If you are scheduled to fly today to or from Pacific Northwest airports, you are strongly encouraged to check your flight status before going to the airport.

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Samsung Galaxy Note7 banned from all U.S. flights

In a statement today, the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued an emergency order banning all Samsung Galaxy Note7 devices from flying onboard any aircraft.

The ban will be effective beginning Oct. 15 at 9 a.m. Pacific time for all airlines, including Alaska. Note7s will not be allowed in the cabin, checked or carry-on luggage, air cargo or air mail.

That means customers flying Oct. 15 or later must leave Note7s at home. 

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Fire safety is top of mind at Alaska Airlines

fire safety containment bags

Earlier this year, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air outfitted their entire fleets with new fire containment bags specially designed to reduce the danger of mid-flight lithium-ion battery fires.

“When it comes to safety on board our aircraft, we need to act quickly,” said Tom Nunn, vice president safety for Alaska Airlines, estimating that it took about 2 months to get the bags from the concept phase to ordering them and putting them onboard aircraft.

The bright red HOT-STOP ‘L’ bags, which are made of a sturdy fire-resistant material, are designed to hold electronic devices like mobile phones and laptops that can sometimes overheat and catch fire. The bags can be shut with Velcro and heavy-duty zippers and can withstand temperatures up to 3200 degrees Fahrenheit.

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A full-time Loch Ness monster hunter in the Scottish Highlights

loch-ness-monster-hunter-steve-feltham

The Loch Ness monster hunter is making me a cup of coffee and I just can’t stop thinking about how normal he seems.

It was a little over twenty-five years ago that Steve Feltham gave up his house, his girlfriend and his job to move into a camper van at the end of a parking lot next to the stony beaches of Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands to search for a mythical monster. He doesn’t have a single regret.

In fact, just the opposite.

This could be just a story about a man looking for a monster that he may never find. It’s more than that. It could be the story of a mad man. It’s not that either.

This is a story of a man who didn’t want to live an ordinary life—a man who wanted to look back at the end of his days and say “I did something I loved.”

And yet the first thing he says to me is quite ordinary. “Shall I put the kettle on?” he asks.

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Alaska launches DIY bag drop pilot project at LAX

Many people are familiar with self-checkout at the grocery store – it can be a speedy and simple option when there are long lines or when purchasing just a few items. Imagine that ability, but with bags at the airport. Alaska Airlines is bringing this technology to the Los Angeles International Airport by piloting a “Scan and Fly” self-bag-drop process that started this week.

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Ye will sink! Bothy camping in the Scottish Highlands

Don’t call it hiking. That was the first thing I learned about hiking in the Scottish Highlands. It’s hill walking. Don’t forget it.

“Hill walking! It makes more sense, love. It’s just walking in hills. Why do you Americans need another word for it?” a coffee barista in Edinburgh corrected me when I told her I planned to begin hiking the next day.

I’m not sure why my friend Glynnis agreed to come along when I told her my plans to hike through the Scottish Highlands a week shy of my 36th birthday. Hill walking in one of the least sparsely populated regions of Europe seemed to offer just the right amount of adventure for two girls looking to escape the busyness of work and city life for a little while. I’d just finished writing a book and had given it over to my editor. Glynnis was just starting one. We desperately needed to be somewhere without our computers, even for a few days.

“It will be like Little House on the Prairie meets Brigadoon,” I’d offered as a way of making it seem more appealing to my friend.

“Both of those stories eventually had a happy ending!” Glynnis replied cautiously. “Kind of.”

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