00                   HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 9                                                                    
01 Congratulating Alaska Airlines on its 75th anniversary.                                                                 
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS Alaska Airlines began in May 1932 as McGee Airways providing service                                    
04 between Anchorage and Bristol Bay using a three-seat Stinson aircraft; and                                              
05       WHEREAS Alaska Airlines continued to expand its service in Alaska through several                               
06 mergers with local carriers during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s; and                                                     
07       WHEREAS the name "Alaska Airlines" was adopted in 1944; and                                                     
08       WHEREAS, by the 1960s, Alaska Airlines was providing jet air service between                                    
09 Alaska and Seattle; and                                                                                                 
10       WHEREAS Alaska Airlines strengthened its operating base in Alaska by merging                                    
11 with Alaska Coastal-Ellis Airlines and Cordova Airlines in the late 1960s; and                                          
12       WHEREAS Alaska Airlines expanded methodically throughout the West Coast of the                                  
13 United States during the 1980s; and                                                                                     
14       WHEREAS joined with its sister carrier Horizon Air and merged with Jet America in                               
15 1987; and                                                                                                               
16       WHEREAS Alaska Airlines has grown to be the ninth largest United States airline                                 

01 and is the dominant carrier in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest; and                                                    
02       WHEREAS Alaska Airlines continues to distinguish itself by providing superior                                   
03 customer service and pioneering technologies that improve operational performance and                                   
04 expand flight safety margins; and                                                                                       
05       WHEREAS Alaska Airlines is deeply involved in the communities of the state and                                  
06 makes over 50 percent of its corporate charitable contributions to organizations serving the                            
07 state; and                                                                                                              
08       WHEREAS it is the people of Alaska Airlines and their spirit, the spirit of The Great                           
09 Land where Alaska Airlines began, that make Alaska Airlines unique; and                                                 
10       WHEREAS Alaska Airlines is celebrating its 75th anniversary in May 2007;                                        
11       BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature acknowledges 75 years of                                       
12 service to the state by Alaska Airlines; and be it                                                                      
13       FURTHER RESOLVED the Alaska State Legislature congratulates Alaska Airlines                                     
14 on reaching this significant landmark in its corporate history.                                                         
15       A COPY of this resolution shall be sent to William S. "Bill" Ayer, Chairman,                                    
16 President, and Chief Executive Officer, Alaska Airlines.