GENERAL AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

GENERAL AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

GENERAL AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Organization and Basis of Presentation

The interim condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Alaska Air Group, Inc. (Air Group or the Company) and its subsidiaries, Alaska Airlines, Inc. (Alaska) and Horizon Air Industries, Inc. (Horizon), through which the Company conducts substantially all of its operations. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated. These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (GAAP) for interim financial information. Consistent with these requirements, this Form 10-Q does not include all the information required by GAAP for complete financial statements. As a result, this Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying Notes in the Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011. In the opinion of management, all adjustments have been made that are necessary to present fairly the Company’s financial position as of September 30, 2012, as well as the results of operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011. The adjustments made were of a normal recurring nature.

In preparing these statements, the Company is required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent liabilities, as well as the reported amounts of revenues and expenses. Due to seasonal variations in the demand for air travel, the volatility of aircraft fuel prices, changes in global economic conditions and other factors, operating results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012 are not necessarily indicative of operating results for the entire year.

Reclassifications

Certain reclassifications have been made to conform the prior-year data to the current format. During the second quarter of 2012, the Company changed the classification of ancillary revenues, such as checked-bag fees, ticket change fees, and others, from "Passenger revenue" to "Other-net" revenue to enhance comparability of passenger revenue among peers in the industry. The Company has reclassified ancillary revenues in the current period and all prior periods, with the reclassification having no impact on total revenue for any of the respective periods. The table below shows operating revenues originally reported in the Form 10-Q for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011 and the effect of the reclassification on the condensed consolidated statement of operations (in millions):

	Three Months Ended September 30, 2011				Nine Months Ended September 30, 2011
	As Reclassified		Reported		As Reclassified		Reported
Operating Revenues
Passenger
Mainline	$	835.6	$	887.4	$	2,269.1	$	2,409.7
Regional	196.1		213.4		536.7		584.2
Total passenger revenue	1,031.7		1,100.8		2,805.8		2,993.9
Freight and mail	29.9		29.9		83.9		83.9
Other - net	136.5		67.4		383.8		195.7
Total Operating Revenues	$	1,198.1	$	1,198.1	$	3,273.5	$	3,273.5