Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air 2012 Annual Report Download - page 97

Most of our codeshare relationships are free-sell
codeshares, where the marketing carrier sells
seats on the operating carrier’s flights from the
operating carrier’s inventory, but takes no
inventory risk. Our marketing agreements have
various termination dates, and at any time, one
or more may be in the process of renegotiation.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines are our
primary codeshare partners. They participate in
two of the three major global alliances.
Our marketing alliances with other airlines are as
follows:
Frequent
Flyer
Agreement
Codeshare—
Alaska
Flight # on
Flights
Operated by
Other Airline
Codeshare—
Other Airline
Flight # on
Flights
Operated by
Alaska /
Horizon /
SkyWest
Major U.S. or
International Airlines
Aeromexico (a) ...... Yes No Yes
American Airlines/
American Eagle . . . Yes Yes Yes
Air France .......... Yes No Yes
British Airways ...... Yes No No
Cathay Pacific
Airways .......... Yes No Yes
Delta Air Lines (b) . . . Yes Yes Yes
Emirates .......... Yes No No
Icelandair .......... Yes No Yes
KLM .............. Yes No Yes
Korean Air ......... Yes No Yes
Lan S.A. ........... Yes No Yes
Air Pacific (c) ....... Yes No Yes
Qantas ............ Yes No Yes
Regional Airlines
SkyWest (c) ........ Yes Yes No
Era Alaska ......... Yes Yes No
PenAir (c) .......... Yes Yes No
Kenmore Air (c) ..... Yes No No
(a) Alaska and Aeromexico launched a new codeshare
partnership in December 2012, and plan to commence a
reciprocal frequent flyer partnership by March 31, 2013.
(b) Alaska has codeshare agreements with the Delta
Connection carriers SkyWest, ExpressJet, Pinnacle, and
Compass as part of its agreement with Delta.
(c) These airlines do not have their own frequent flyer
program. However, Alaska’s Mileage Plan members can
earn and redeem miles on these airlines’ route systems.
TICKET DISTRIBUTION
Airline tickets are distributed through three
primary channels:
•Alaskaair.com: It is less expensive for us to
sell through this direct channel and, as a
result, we continue to take steps to drive
more business to our website. In addition,
we believe this channel is preferable from a
branding and customer-relationship
standpoint in that we can establish ongoing
communication with the customer and tailor
offers accordingly.
•Traditional and online travel agencies: Both
traditional and online travel agencies
typically use Global Distribution Systems
(GDS), such as Sabre, to obtain their fare
and inventory data from airlines. Bookings
made through these agencies result in a fee
that is charged to the airline. Many of our
large corporate customers require us to use
these agencies. Some of our competitors do
not use this distribution channel and, as a
result, have lower ticket distribution costs.
•Reservation call centers: These call centers
are located in Phoenix, AZ, Kent, WA, and
Boise, ID. We generally charge a $15 fee for
booking reservations through these call
centers.
Our sales by channel are as follows:
2012 2011 2010 2009 2008
Alaskaair.com ....... 54% 51% 48% 45% 48%
Traditional agencies . . 27% 28% 28% 32% 28%
Online travel
agencies ......... 13% 13% 15% 11% 14%
Reservation call
centers .......... 6% 8% 9% 12% 10%
Total .......... 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
SEASONALITY AND OTHER FACTORS
Our results of operations for any interim period
are not necessarily indicative of those for the
entire year because our business is subject to
seasonal fluctuations. Our profitability is
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ŠForm 10-K