Alaska Airlines history

After a few missteps, the airline flew its first commercial operations in 1933.

In 1934, McGee merged with Star Air Service, creating the largest airline in Alaska with 22 aircraft.

In 1935, Mac McGee sold his airline’s assets to Star Air Service, but would later return to manage Star Air Service twice.

In 1937, Star Air Service purchased a number of its competitors, including Arctic Airways and Alaska Interior Airways.

In 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Board was founded, which started to regulate airlines in the United States significantly.

From two competing charter services formed in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1932, Alaska Airlines has grown into the fifth-largest airline in the United States. It began operating under the name Alaska Airlines in 1944 and was first known as a cargo carrier.

The airline also participated in Operation Wings of Eagles (sometimes called Operation Magic Carpet) in 1949, a massive airlift of more than 40,000 Yemenite Jews from Yemen to Israel.

Our airline expanded in 1950, with the purchase of two more small Alaskan carriers, and a.

The airline was already informally offering service to Seattle, but despite its best efforts these flights had not been approved by the CAB. Alaska finally prevailed in 1951 when the CAB granted approval to fly from Anchorage and Fairbanks to Seattle and Portland.

Charlie Willis, a pilot in World War II, joined Alaska Airlines as chairman and CEO in 1957.

In 1966, the airline received its first Boeing 727 registered as N797AS. The trijet 727 would serve Alaska Airlines for an incredible 25 years.

The powerful planes hauled drilling rigs to Alaska's North Slope after the discovery of the enormous Prudhoe Bay oil field was announced in 1968, and later flew similar equipment to Ecuador in western South America.

In 1970, Alaska introduced charter service to Siberia and flew more than two dozen flights to Russia's Far East for the next two years.

In 1972, Ron Cosgrave took the helm and started to rebrand Alaska.

To round things out, for the first time in years, the airline turned a profit in 1973.

Deregulation of the airline industry in 1978 was a boon for the company and it has since enjoyed substantial growth, first expanding into a West Coast airline and then a national and international one.

Important cities of Portland and San Francisco saw Alaska service beginning in 1979.

The following year the company bought Horizon Air, which had its beginning in Seattle in 1981 as a small local airline serving Seattle, Yakima, and Pasco.

Our airline expanded methodically throughout the West Coast and in 1987 joined forces with two carriers similarly committed to outstanding customer service—Horizon Air and Jet America.

Building up the carrier's network, international flights to Mexico started in 1988.

In 1989 Alaska became the first airline to use a head-up display in its aircraft, which generates an image directly in the pilots' field of vision that enables them to remain focused on what is in front of them rather than requiring a look down to read instruments.

Alaska added a route to Toronto in 1991, its first destination east of the Rocky Mountains, but maintained the route for only a year.

Aided by an increase in its cargo operations, the company was again turning a profit by 1994 and was serving its passengers with a new motto: "For the same price, you just get more" ("Alaska Airlines History by Decade").

In 1996 the airline flew the first commercial flight using global-positioning technology, which was able to far more accurately pinpoint an airplane's location than had previously been possible.

In 2001, Alaska again ventured east of the Rocky Mountains when it began offering service to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.

The airline added service to Newark the following year, while Orlando became a destination in 2003.

In 2011, Alaska Air Group replaced the AMR Corporation in the Dow Jones Transportation Average following AMR's filing for bankruptcy.

In 2012, Alaska Airlines announced its largest aircraft order ever.

But, in 2014, Delta Air Lines announced a significant expansion out of Seattle, and Alaska needed to shore up its presence there to ensure it could survive.

On March 29, 2016 Alaska Airlines announced that it would form a wholly owned subsidiary called McGee Air Services, a dedicated airline services company.

On March 22, 2017 the company announced that Alaska Air Group would merge Virgin America and Alaska Airlines, with the combined airline to operate under the Alaska Airlines brand.

Until 2018, Alaska Air Group continued to operate Alaska Airlines and Virgin America as separate airlines and continued to honor both Alaska's Mileage Plan and Virgin America's Elevate loyalty programs.

The onset of the COVID pandemic in March 2020 and corresponding drop in travel resulted in a nearly 60 percent decline in sales and revenues that year, and the company was forced to lay off more than 8 percent of its work force.