Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air 2012 Annual Report Download - page 102

September 11 Security Fee of $2.50 per
enplanement from passengers and remit
that sum to the government to fund aviation
security measures. Carriers also pay the
TSA a security infrastructure fee to cover
passenger and property screening costs.
These security infrastructure fees amounted
to $13 million each year in 2012, 2011 and
2010.
The Department of Justice and DOT have
jurisdiction over airline antitrust matters. The
U.S. Postal Service has jurisdiction over certain
aspects of the transportation of mail and related
services. Labor relations in the air transportation
industry are regulated under the Railway Labor
Act. To the extent we continue to fly to foreign
countries and pursue alliances with international
carriers, we may be subject to certain regulations
of foreign agencies.
ENVIRONMENTAL AND OCCUPATIONAL
SAFETY MATTERS
We are subject to various laws and government
regulations concerning environmental matters
and employee safety and health in the U.S. and
other countries. U.S. federal laws that have a
particular effect on us include the Airport Noise
and Capacity Act of 1990, the Clean Air Act, the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the
Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act,
and the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation and Liability Act,
Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act,
and the Oil Pollution Control Act. We are also
subject to the oversight of the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
concerning employee safety and health matters.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
OSHA, and other federal agencies have been
authorized to create and enforce regulations that
have an impact on our operations. In addition to
these federal activities, various states have been
delegated certain authorities under these federal
statutes. Many state and local governments
have adopted environmental and employee
safety and health laws and regulations. We
maintain our safety, health and environmental
programs in order to meet or exceed these
requirements.
We expect there will be legislation in the future
to reduce carbon and other greenhouse gas
emissions. Alaska and Horizon have transitioned
to more fuel-efficient aircraft fleets, thereby
greatly reducing our total emissions.
The Airport Noise and Capacity Act recognizes
the rights of airport operators with noise
problems to implement local noise abatement
programs so long as they do not interfere
unreasonably with interstate or foreign
commerce or the national air transportation
system. Authorities in several cities have
established aircraft noise reduction programs,
including the imposition of nighttime curfews. We
believe we have sufficient scheduling flexibility to
accommodate local noise restrictions.
Although we do not currently anticipate that
these regulatory matters, individually or
collectively, will have a material effect on our
financial condition, results of operations or cash
flows, new regulations or compliance issues that
we do not currently anticipate could have the
potential to harm our financial condition, results
of operations or cash flows in future periods.
INSURANCE
We carry Airline Hull, Spares and Comprehensive
Legal Liability Insurance in amounts and of the
type generally consistent with industry practice to
cover damage to aircraft, spare parts and spare
engines, as well as bodily injury and property
damage to passengers and third parties. Since
the September 11, 2001 attacks, this insurance
program excludes coverage for War and Allied
Perils, including hijacking, terrorism, malicious
acts, strikes, riots, civil commotion and other
identified perils. So, like other airlines, the
company has purchased war risk coverage for
such events through the U.S. government.
We believe that our emphasis on safety and our
state-of-the-art flight deck safety technology help
to control the cost of aviation insurance.
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