'Nerd Bird' Flies Again: Alaska Airlines Inaugurates San Jose-Austin Service
September 02 2009 - 8:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Twice-daily flights between Portland-Silicon Valley-Austin to begin
in March 2010 SEATTLE, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Alaska
Airlines today will inaugurate nonstop service between San Jose,
Calif., and Austin, Texas, officially resurrecting the popular
"nerd bird" route. The flight will originate in Portland, Ore., and
the airline will add another daily flight between the three cities
starting March 14, 2010. "This route is a natural extension of our
network and provides a vital link between these high-tech hubs,"
said Steve Jarvis, Alaska Airlines' vice president of marketing,
sales and customer experience. Alaska will inaugurate the new route
with its "Wi-Fi One" aircraft, a specially-equipped Boeing 737-700
offering inflight broadband Internet access. Customers will be able
to connect to Alaska Airlines Inflight Wi-Fi using any Wi-Fi
enabled device, such as a laptop, smart phone or portable media
player. "It seems only fitting to offer our tech-savvy passengers a
way to stay connected to what matters most to them while in the
air, "said Jarvis. "Customers on this inaugural flight will be able
to send and receive e-mail, connect to Virtual Private Networks,
and browse the Web from 35,000 feet." Schedule information
Departure Arrival Day Start date City pair time time of week Sept.
2, 2009 Portland-San Jose 6:20 a.m. 8:10 a.m. Daily, except Sun
Sept. 2, 2009 San Jose-Austin 8:55 a.m. 2:15 p.m. Daily Sept. 2,
2009 Austin-San Jose 3 p.m. 4:40 p.m. Daily Sept. 2, 2009 San
Jose-Portland 5:25 p.m. 7:10 p.m. Daily, except Sat March 14, 2010
Portland-San Jose 3:20 p.m. 5:05 p.m. Daily March 14, 2010 San
Jose-Austin 5:50 p.m. 11:10 p.m. Daily March 15, 2010 Austin-San
Jose 8 a.m. 9:40 a.m. Daily March 15, 2010 San Jose-Portland 10:25
a.m. 12:10 p.m. Daily * All times based on local time zones Alaska
Airlines Mileage Plan members can earn double miles on the new
flights between San Jose and Austin through Oct. 31, 2009. To
qualify, customers must first register at alaskaair.com. Alaska
Airlines Mileage Plan offers some of the industry's most attractive
award levels when booking online, with Super Saver Awards starting
at 7,500 miles one way. Members of the American Airlines'
AAdvantage program, Delta Air Lines' SkyMiles program, and 13 other
airline partner programs, also can earn miles when they travel on
Alaska Airlines. Alaska Airlines began service between Seattle and
Austin on Aug. 3, 2009, and will start daily service between
Seattle and Houston on Sept. 23. The airline will operate the
flights with Boeing 737-700 aircraft, accommodating 12 passengers
in first class and 112 in the main cabin. San Jose-Austin flights
will offer Alaska's Northern Bites meals-for-purchase service,
which allows coach passengers to buy a meal onboard for $6.
Inflight service also will include Alaska Airlines' digEplayer, a
personal entertainment system offering a variety of movies,
television shows, music and other features. Complimentary in first
class, digEplayers are available for $6 in coach. The new flights
are available for purchase at alaskaair.com or by calling
1-800-ALASKAAIR (1-800-252-7522 or TTY/TDD line 1-800-392-0228).
Note to news media: Broadcast footage can be downloaded at
http://tinyurl.com/m4zetk or by contacting Alaska Airlines Media
Relations. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, subsidiaries of Alaska
Air Group (NYSE: ALK), together serve more than 90 cities through
an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and
Mexico. Alaska Airlines ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction
Among Traditional Network Carriers" in the J.D. Power and
Associates 2008 and 2009 North America Airline Satisfaction
Studies(SM). For reservations, visit alaskaair.com. For more news
and information, visit the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Newsroom at
alaskaair.com/newsroom. DATASOURCE: Alaska Airlines CONTACT: Bobbie
Egan of Alaska Airlines, +1-206-392-5134 Web Site:
http://www.alaskaair.com/
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