=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2003/07/22/f= inancial0954EDT0038.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, July 22, 2003 (AP) Federal aid boosts Alaska Air Group's second-quarter profit (07-22) 06:54 PDT SEATTLE (AP) -- Alaska Air Group Inc. reported a $45.2 million profit Tuesday for the second quarter, largely attributable to a cash infusion from the federal government, which temporarily has been reimbursing airlines for airport security fees. The parent company of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air reported net income equivalent to $1.70 a share on $609.1 million in revenue for the three months ending June 30. Excluding the government aid, net income during the quarter was $900,000 or 3 cents a share. In the same period a year ago the company reported a net loss of $2.9 million or 11 cents a share on $575.7 million in revenue. Passenger traffic for the quarter was up 9.1 percent at Alaska Airlines, the dominant carrier on north-south routes along the West Coast, and 6.9 percent at Horizon, a feeder airline. "We eked out a small amount of net income for the quarter excluding the government compensation," Alaska Air chairman William S. Ayer said in a prepared statement. "We are working hard to achieve our cost management objectives, and this quarter's results are an encouraging sign that initiatives we have implemented to date are helping us with our plan to return to profitability on a full year basis." Last month the company announced Ayer was taking a 20 percent pay cut and three other top executives were taking 15 percent cuts while negotiating with five unions for pay concessions and changes in work rules. For the first six months of the year, Alaska Air lost $11.1 million, or = 42 cents per share, compared with a loss of $88.0 million, or $3.32 per share, during the same period in 2002. Alaska Air increased its cash position to approximately $722 million at the end of June, up from $636 million at the beginning of the year. Shares of Alaska Air rose 62 cents to $23.38 on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 AP