Alaska Airlines Begins Codesharing With American Airlines On Selected Routes.

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 22, 1999--

Alaska Airlines begins codeshare service today on selected domestic routes served by American Airlines.

Under the agreement, Alaska will place its "AS" designator code on American flights between Seattle and Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago, Miami and New York/JFK. The Alaska code will also appear on American flights between Portland, San Francisco and Los Angeles, and Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago.

"We're pleased to announce the implementation of this second phase of our marketing agreement with American," said Gregg Saretsky, Alaska's vice president of marketing and planning. "This new service will provide passengers the convenience of a single check-in when they connect to selected routes served by American, plus the opportunity to earn miles in either their Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan or American Airlines AADVANTAGE frequent flyer account."

In April, Alaska and American implemented the initial phase of their marketing agreement which allowed members of each carrier's frequent flyer program to earn mileage credits and use awards across each other's route systems.

Codesharing, which allows one carrier to sell flights as its own on another carrier, provides customers with more travel options and the partner airline with incremental passenger traffic.

Alaska Airlines and its sister carrier Horizon Air serve more than 70 cities in Alaska, Canada, Mexico and seven Western states. In 1999, readers of Travel & Leisure magazine voted the carrier the "World's Best Domestic Airline."