Alaska Airlines is the fifth largest airline in the United States and was founded in 1932. It carries over 46 million passengers annually. The airline serves over 120 destinations across North America, including major hubs in Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland and Anchorage, with a notably extensive network on the West Coast. It also has over 20,000 employees and is headquartered in the Seattle area. Its logo features the image of a native Alaskan on it.
Alaska operates a fleet of over 300 aircraft, mostly from Boeing and Airbus. It has one of the youngest and most fuel-efficient fleets of any major airline.
The airline is also a part of The Oneworld Alliance with other domestic and international airlines such as American Airlines, British Airways, Canadian Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas. This helps Alaska provide a very good coverage for destinations big and small, especially on the West Coast. They serve many popular leisure and adventure destinations well.
Alaska Airlines merged with Virgin America in 2016, although the two airlines continue to operate under separate brands and FCC licenses. This expanded Alaska’s network in California. Key aspects of Alaska’s business include serving popular ski and outdoors destinations, carrying a lot of west-coast regional traffic, and linking smaller western cities to Alaska as part of its namesake. The airline has a strong focus on customer satisfaction and has frequently ranked high in airline quality ratings. It is known for its otherwise-hard-to-get flight miles and travel partner accolades.
How Alaska Airlines Succeeds
Alaska Airlines ranked number one in NerdWallets’ ranking of the best American operated airlines of 2024. The ranking was conducted on a up to five point scoring of seven categories including rewards (mile) value, operations, elite status benefits, fees, basic economy experience, in-flight experience and pet policies. Alaska Airlines scored highly in almost all of these categories. Other assessments of Alaska Airlines indicate that the answer to “is Alaska Airlines good?” is generally yes.
Customer Service
Alaska scores very well in terms of passenger comfort, in-flight entertainment, amenities, and customer service. It has frequently won awards for being one of the highest rated airlines for customer satisfaction. This includes the airline placing on Newsweek’s America’s Best Customer Service list for both 2022 and 2023.
On-Time Flights and Cancellations
The airline has one of the best on-time performance records in the industry, with around 80% of flights arriving on schedule. They also have far fewer cancellations compared to other major carriers.
Jonathan E. Hendry for Simple Flying wrote “The Oneworld carrier canceled less than one in a hundred flights, with 0.86% of flights axed within a week of departures.”
Awards Program
Alaska’s Mileage Plan frequent flier program is well-regarded for being easy to use and providing access to hard-to-get travel awards compared to bigger airlines. There are also ample airline partners with Alaska Airlines being a part of the Oneworld Alliance. Alaska Airlines ranked number one for the fifth year in a row in terms of NerdWallet’s ranking of the best airline and hotel rewards programs. Out of a five point scale, Alaska Airlines earned a perfect score for 2024.
Cost and Value
While not an ultra-low-cost airline, Alaska provides a good value proposition compared to legacy airlines via better amenities, service and ambiance while matching competitive fares. NerdWallet scored Alaska Airlines at 4.2 out of 5 in terms of bag and seat assignment add-on fees.
How Alaska Airlines Fails
The data isn’t all supportive of Alaska Airlines being the best, though. Here are some of the ways in which the airline falls short of the glory or could use some implemented feedback.
Basic Economy Restrictions
Alaska Airlines lowest score throughout NerdWallet’s ranking was in the category of basic economy with a score of 1.9 out 5. Basic economy airline seats are usually located in the same seating area as regular economy seats but they involve certain restrictions that make them a cheaper option.
NerdWallet scored the airlines in this category based on factors regarding their basic economy restrictions such as whether you can change or cancel your ticket (Alaska does not allow this), whether you can pick your seat (no for Alaska), if you are allowed a overhead carry-on bag (yes for Alaska), and whether the tickets count towards frequent flier miles and if that includes elite status (yes for both for Alaska). While Alaska Airlines’ score for basic economy was pretty low, it still tied with United Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Hawaiian Airlines for third place. This is clearly a category most US operated airlines can improve in.
Alaska Airlines Recent Door Plug Incident
On Jan. 5, 2024, Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 had to make an emergency landing minutes after departing from Portland when a door-plug on the Boeing 737 Max 9 model aircraft blew-off. “A plug covering a spot left for an emergency door tore off the plane as it flew 16,000 feet (4,800 meters) above Oregon,” according to AP. No one on the flight was hurt as luckily no one was sitting next to the door plug. Aimee Picchi for CBS News wrote that experts have said the incident would have been much worse if passengers were seated next to the door or if it occurred later in the flight when passengers take their seatbelts off.
All of Alaska Airlines’ Max 9 jets were grounded hours after the incident. Additionally, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) later grounded all other Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft in the US in order to launch an investigation on the safety of the aircraft. Alaska found loose bolts in several other Max 9 jets, according to Picchi. United Airlines reported the same for some of its Max 9s.
Picchi reported that as of Jan. 24, 2024, The FAA cleared the aircraft to return to service after rigorous inspection and tests. That Friday, Jan. 26, Alaska Airlines first flight with the Boeing 737 Max 9 aircraft back in service took off from Seattle and landed in San Diego.
Most of the scrutiny for this incident has fallen on Boeing for sending out aircraft that were not properly secured. The company has had its reputation with frequent safety problems. However, Alaska Airlines is not clear from any criticism. AP reported that warning lights were triggered from the cabin-pressurization system on three different flights just two days before the incident. AP continued, “Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said maintenance crews checked the plane and cleared it to fly — but the airline decided not to use it for the long route to Hawaii over water so that it “could return very quickly to an airport” if the warning light reappeared.”
AP reported that many pilots, airplane safety consultants, crash experts and other professionals were divided on whether they believed Alaska made the right decision to not ground the plane after the warnings. Some believe it should have been grounded after the warning if the airline was worried about taking the aircraft far from land. Others said they understood the decision as the warning light could have been a glitch or bad sensor. Overall, exports agree that the decision to not fly over water was best and avoided potentially a more “catastrophic” incident.
So, Is Alaska Airlines a Good Airline?
Alaska Airlines performs noticeably well in many categories compared to other domestic airlines based on NerdWallet’s ranking. Additionally, other awards and reviews of the years suggest satisfaction amongst its passengers. For these reasons alone, the answer to “is Alaska Airlines good” could be left at yes. However, this recent incident with the airline could cause some anxiety for some. But it is important to note that the aircraft have been cleared again for service after many investigations and tests were conducted.