Alaska Airlines has been in the news for both the right and the wrong reasons this week. On the one hand, it has reached a key milestone as far as its integration with Hawaiian Airlines is concerned, following its receipt of a Single Operating Certificate from the FAA. However, it has also had to come to terms with its third IT outage this year, with these crises costing millions.
As far as the carrier’s fleet is concerned, Alaska Airlines favors the Boeing 737 family for its mainline operations, following the withdrawal of its last ex-Virgin America Airbus A320 series jets back in October of 2023. Meanwhile, its regional partners use Embraer E-Jets on feeder routes serving smaller airports. Let’s take a closer look at the aircraft that make Alaska Airlines tick.
The Boeing 737 MAX Series
According to present fleet data made available by ch-aviation, 
Alaska Airlines currently has 244 mainline aircraft at its disposal. Of these, 90 are from the Boeing 737 MAX family, with 10 being examples of the popular MAX 8 variant. These twinjet narrowbodies are just 0.9 years old, and the carrier has another 10 examples of the type on order to further grow its mainline fleet.
According to aeroLOPA, these aircraft have either 12 first class and 147 economy seats, or 16 in first class and 145 in economy, depending on the configuration. Meanwhile, its 737 MAX 9s, of which it has 80 at an average age of 3.1 years, have 16 first class and 162 economy seats. Going forward, the airline also has 63 737 MAX 10s on order. On this, CEO Ben Minicucci said in 2022:
“We’re proud of the strong financial foundation that uniquely positions Alaska Airlines to make this commitment to our future, and of the fantastic partnership we share with our hometown aircraft manufacturer at Boeing.”
The Boeing 737NG Series
Despite being older than the 
Boeing 737 MAX, the previous-generation 737NG family also has an important role to play at Alaska Airlines. The smallest variant of this series that the carrier operates is the 737-700, with 124 seats across two classes. There are 11 of these at the airline with an average age of 25.6 years old, and it also flies three cargo-carrying 737-700 (BDSF) jets.
Going up in size, Alaska Airlines also has 59 passenger examples of the popular 737-800 model at its disposal. Depending on the exact configuration, these aircraft, which are 17.6 years old on average compared to a fleet-wide mean figure of 14.3 years old, have 12-16 first class seats and 145-150 in economy. Alaska Airlines also flies two cargo-carrying 737-800 (BCF) freighter jets.
Having previously flown 11 examples of the Boeing 737-900, Alaska Airlines’ largest 737NG series jets today are its 737-900ERs. The airline currently has 79 of these narrowbodies at its disposal with an average age of 9.8 years old, and they have the same two-class 174-seat layout as its 737 MAX 9s. These aircraft typically serve routes between its hubs on the West Coast of the US.
Horizon Air’s Regional Jets
The wider Alaska Air Group also has a regional subsidiary carrier under its belt in the form of Seattle-based Horizon Air. As seen above, this airline exclusively operates Embraer E175 regional twinjets, with these planes being used to operate feeder services on behalf of Alaska Airlines.
According to fleet data made available by ch-aviation, Horizon Air currently has 47 examples of the Embraer E175 at its disposal, with outstanding orders for another three units of the type, and these aircraft are 5.5 years old on average. They have 12 first class and 64 economy seats onboard, with their capacity limited to 76 due to the scope clause that dictates US regional aviation.
On these aircraft, the first class cabin is laid out three-abreast in a 2-1 configuration, with these seats being 20 inches wide and offering a pitch of 37.8 inches. As for economy, all seats are 18.2 inches wide, but 12 have extra legroom (33.8 inches), while 52 have a standard 30.3-inch pitch.
