Excludingmark-to-market fuel hedge gains, Horizon's pretax loss was $12.2 million forthe quarter, compared to a pretax loss of $18.5 million in the first quarterof 2008.A summary of financial and statistical data for Alaska Airlines and HorizonAir, 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 befound at the end of this release.First checked bag service charge and guaranteeAlaska Airlines and Horizon Air also announced they will join nearly all majordomestic carriers in charging for a first checked bag. The $15 service charge-- effective July 7 for tickets purchased beginning May 1 -- includes aguarantee to compensate passengers if their luggage is not at baggage claim 25minutes after their flight parks at the gate. "We're adapting to a marketplace in which customers increasingly want thelowest fare possible, with the option to pay extra to use other services,"Ayer said.

"We want to continue matching the lowest fare in the market withoutbeing at a revenue disadvantage to our competitors. The fees for overweight andoversized bags, currently $50 or $75 depending on weight and size, also willnot change.A conference call regarding the first quarter 2009 results will be simulcastvia the Internet at 8:30 a.m Pacific time on April 23, 2009. It can beaccessed through the company's Web site at alaskaair /investors. For thoseunable to listen to the live broadcast, a replay will be available after theconclusion of the call at alaskaair /investors.References in this news release to "Air Group," "company," "we," "us" and"our" refer to Alaska Air Group, Inc and its subsidiaries, unless otherwisespecified Alaska Airlines, Inc and Horizon Air Industries, Inc. are referredto as "Alaska" and "Horizon," respectively, and together as our "airlines."This news release contains forward-looking statements subject to the safeharbor protection provided by Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, asamended, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, andthe Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relateto future events and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties thatmay cause actual outcomes to be materially different from those indicated byany forward-looking statements.

For a comprehensive discussion of potentialrisk factors, see Item 1A of the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for theyear ended Dec 31, 2008. Some of these risks include current economicconditions, increases in operating costs including fuel, competition, laborcosts and relations, our significant indebtedness, inability to meet costreduction goals, terrorist attacks, seasonal fluctuations in our financialresults, an aircraft accident, laws and regulations, and government fees andtaxes. All of the forward-looking statements are qualified in their entiretyby reference to the risk factors discussed therein These risk factors may notbe exhaustive. We operate in a continually changing business environment, andnew risk factors emerge from time to time. Management cannot predict such newrisk factors, nor can it assess the impact, if any, of such new risk factorson our business or events described in any forward-looking statements.

Weexpressly disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise anyforward-looking statements after the date of this report to conform them toactual results. Over time, our actual results, performance or achievementswill likely differ from the anticipated results, performance or achievementsthat are expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements, and suchdifferences 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, theLower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. Alaska Airlines ranked "Highest inCustomer Satisfaction among Traditional Network Carriers (tie)" in the J.D.Power and Associates 2008 North America Airline Satisfaction Study(SM) Forreservations, visit alaskaair . For more news and information, visit theAlaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at alaskaair /newsroom. The errorresulted in an understatement of wages and benefits of $0.4 million inthe first three months of 2008.In accordance with SAB 108, the errorhas been corrected in this statement.Note A:Pursuant to Regulation G, we are providing disclosure of thereconciliation of reported non-GAAP financial measures to their mostdirectly comparable financial measures reported on a GAAP basis.

-- Cost per ASM excluding fuel and certain special items is one ofthe most important measures used by managements of both Alaska and Horizonand by the Air Group Board of Directors in assessing quarterly and annualcost performance.For Alaska Airlines, these decision-makers evaluateoperating results of the "mainline" operation, which includes theoperation of the B737 fleet branded in Alaska Airlines livery.Therevenues and expenses associated with purchased capacity are evaluatedseparately. -- Cost per ASM excluding fuel (and other items as specified in ourplan documents) is an important metric for the employee incentive planthat covers company management and certain other employee groups. -- Cost per ASM excluding fuel and certain special items is a measurecommonly used by industry analysts, and we believe it is the basis bywhich they compare our airlines to others in the industry.The measure isalso the subject of frequent questions from investors. -- Disclosure of the individual impact of certain noted itemsprovides investors the ability to measure and monitor performance bothwith and without these special items. We believe that disclosing theimpact of certain items, such as fleet transition costs and restructuringcharges, is important because it provides information on significant itemsthat are not necessarily indicative of future performance.