DOCUMENT AND ENTITY INFORMATION	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Oct. 31, 2012
Entity Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2012
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Entity Registrant Name	ALASKA AIR GROUP, INC.
Entity Central Index Key	0000766421
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		70,314,136