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PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: Alaska Airlines Air Cargo Services Creative cargo company meets customer time and budget requirements Susan Braund Petroleum Directory Contributing Writer
This year Alaska Airlines turns 71 — healthy, fit and more robust than ever.
Based on 2001 passenger traffic, Alaska Airlines is the ninth largest airline in the country. In the last 30 years the airline has carried more people between Alaska and the Lower 48 than any other airline, and maintains 84 percent of the market share between the West Coast and Alaska. While other airlines have been reducing service, Alaska continues to grow, adding service to key destinations: Washington-National, Washington-Dulles, Denver, Boston, Calgary, Cancun, Miami and New York-Newark and later this year to Orlando, Boise and Guadalajara, Mexico.
Technology pioneer From the beginning, Alaska Airlines has pioneered new technology, resulting in increased safety and productivity. A few notable events and new services introduced over the years include:
1949: first airline to equip the DC-3 with skis.
1951: first airline to fly over the North Pole
1965: first airline to fly the Lockheed Hercules for oil field development in Alaska
1989: first airline to use head-up guidance system to avoid disruptions in scheduled service caused by fog.
1995: Alaska and Horizon became the first U.S. airlines to book travel and sell tickets via the Internet.
1996: first airline in the world to integrate the global positioning system with the latest in enhanced ground proximity warning system technology. Together these two technologies improve navigation, enhance safety and increase schedule reliability.
1999: first to check in passengers and issue boarding passes via the Internet.
2001: first airline to take delivery of the world’s first Boeing 737-900; introduced wireless check in.
Cargo masters “The public thinks of us as a passenger airline,” says Keola Pang-Ching, director of cargo sales and marketing. “But we’re one of two out of the top 10 major airlines that provides scheduled freighter service. Our fleet of 737-200 Combi-aircraft and scheduled passenger/freight service are what make us unique. Alaska differentiates itself by offering more flights to, from, and within the state of Alaska than any other airline.”
Alaska’s Cargo Division, which serves 18 cities in the state of Alaska, transported more than 141 million pounds of cargo system wide in 2002.
Nonstop flights to and from its Anchorage, Seattle, Portland or Los Angeles hubs offer customers excellent online connections to other Alaska Airline flights with both time and pricing convenience. In Alaska, the airline offers multiple flights and daily frequency to most of the locations it services.
The airline designed its cargo service options to meet customer needs. For instance, for expedited service on emergency parts to the North Slope, the airline’s Guaranteed Onboard service can move the part on a freighter leaving Seattle at 1:30 a.m. and get it to Prudhoe the same day. “It’s a service difficult to match even by overnight express carriers,” says Pang-Ching. “We are the only scheduled commercial passenger and cargo flight nonstop to Prudhoe daily.”
Cargo service options • GoldStreak: for items up to 100 pounds that need to arrive the same day, this flight-specific, small package express service is the right choice. Simply drop your package at the GoldStreak Service Center an hour before departure or 30 minutes at many airports, and the parcel may be picked up an hour after arrival.
• GO — Guaranteed Onboard: Using GO Priority Service for shipments too large to travel as GoldStreak, customers can book a reservation for cargo service. Shipments are flight-specific and booked in at least four hours advance.
• Priority and General Freight: Priority freight has a 12-hour standard and 24 hours for general freight.
• GoldRush: small parcel service from Alaska airports delivered to most zip codes in the domestic United States.
• Economy: for the shipper who has the luxury of time and wants to take advantage of low cargo rates.
• Cargo Container Service: The airline offers 737 main deck A-type ULD container service between Seattle, Anchorage, Juneau and other Alaska destinations. Depending on the aircraft configuration a flight can carry from two to six containers. Each ULD may contain up to a maximum of 7,500 pounds of cargo. The aircraft are configured to carry both passengers and “Igloo” containers, offering dedicated cargo capacity. In addition, these aircraft are used to/from Seattle with nine weekly scheduled all-cargo freighters to Anchorage.
• Charters: for emergencies the cargo division can move a crew of 26 plus 20,000 pounds of gear. Charter flights frequently move firefighters and five containers of gear, and can do the same thing for North Slope emergencies crews.
Special handling • Live Animals: Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air provide transportation for live animals in a variety of ways. Animals may be checked as passenger baggage, or shipped as cargo on Alaska Airlines and GoldStreak only on Horizon Air. Dogs, cats, birds and other animals (subject to approval) are accepted for transportation.
• Perishable Items: The airline accepts perishable goods for transportation as air cargo, including fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh and frozen seafood, other food stuffs and flowers. Packaging recommendations suggest packing perishable items to withstand 48 hours in transit without refrigeration. The preferred method is using GEL type ice packs. Wet ice is prohibited.
• Hazardous Materials (Dangerous Goods): The shipper accepts hazardous materials in accordance with the IATA/ICAO dangerous goods regulations. Proper packaging and the correct paperwork must be completed prior to shipment.
Electronic cargo tracking Through the SITA/CCS cargo tracking system, customers can now easily track the progress of shipments in real-time and will soon be able to also book cargo online.
The Cargo Community System provides the air cargo community — more than 300 freight forwarders and over 90 air carriers — with electronic communication between airlines, freight forwarders, ground handling agencies, ground transportation companies, and other associated parties.
“CCS talks to other cargo systems,” says Pang-Ching. ”Every time we touch the airbill it provides updates to other companies and Cargo Partners inter-tie with the carriers where we do not serve.”
Supporting Alaska’s communities Because Alaska is largely without road service, rural areas depend on the air industry for groceries, supplies, and frequently, medical support. Rural hospitals often use the GoldStreak system to get short shelf-life medications and shots from distribution centers in the Lower 48, ensuring freshness and avoiding the high price of stocking medical supplies.
“We really try to work with Alaskans to get their products to market, especially seafood customers. We also work jointly with customers in the communities we serve on shipping logistics. For example, in Cabo, Mexico, we’ve worked with a co-op of farmers to transport around three million pounds annually of organically grown basil to the West Coast.”
The cargo marketing staff recently did a joint marketing effort with Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute to promote Alaska’s seafood. Last year more than 1 million pounds of fish were eventually flown south on scheduled and chartered Alaska Airlines jets during the season. National recognition Light years from a little airline that sprung from McGee Airways’ single engine, three-seat Stinson service between Anchorage and Bristol Bay in 1932, Alaska, and sister airline Horizon, are regularly lauded on a national level. In addition to the airline being continually cited for outstanding customer service in numerous travel and financial magazines, for three years running the cargo division won the Logistics magazine Quest for Quality Service Award from a field of 4,000 shippers in the country.
“For more than 70 years Alaska Airlines and its people have been guided through thick and thin by a shared commitment to integrity, caring, resourcefulness,” reports the company website. “Professionalism and spirit. Especially spirit — an Alaskan spirit born in the land where the airline was born — a place where can-do and neighbor-helping-neighbor are facts of life.”
Editor's note: Susan Braund owns Firestar Media Services in Anchorage, Alaska.
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