In a year defined by a roughly month-long grounding of its Boeing 737 Max 9s and the costly acquisition of leisure carrier Hawaiian Airlines, Seattle-based Alaska Air Group posted a roughly $400 million profit.
For context, that compares with the carrier’s $235 million profit for the full year of 2023. The company’s latest results include Hawaiian’s operations starting on 18 September.
The parent of Alaska Airlines generated a company-record $11.7 billion of full-year revenue, it disclosed on 22 January, and posted a full-year pre-tax margin of about 7% that is ”expected to be among the best in the industry”.
Alaska’s year got off to a dramatic start as a door plug blew off the fuselage of an in-flight 737 Max 9 taking off from Portland on 5 January, leading to the voluntary grounding of its entire Max 9 fleet – a total of 65 aircraft at the time.
The jets were out of service through early February, tarnishing an otherwise strong first quarter for Alaska Air Group.
Boeing admitted fault in the incident, which injured several passengers, paying Alaska $162 million cash in the first quarter, followed in May by an additional $61 million in credits.
Last year, Alaska also closed a $1.9 billion, all-stock acquisition of Hawaiian, expanding its scope to include transpacific flights and its first widebody operations.
Looking ahead, Alaska plans to ”unlock $1 billion in incremental pre-tax profit over the next three years” as part of its Alaska Accelerate plan, says chief executive Ben Minicucci.
The company will also seek to “leverage the strengths of our combined network” with Hawaiian now officially under its wing.
“We’re poised to capitalise on the strength of a combined global network, a powerful loyalty programme” and ”two beloved brands”, says Andrew Harrison, Alaska’s chief commercial officer.
Alaska forecasts steady growth for 2025 as it expects that full-year capacity – as measured in available seat kilometres – will increase 2-3% over last year.
