Despite smoke filling a cabin of a flight to Long Beach on Sunday night, and the scary drop in pressure on one of their flights from Vancouver to SF on Friday, Alaska Airlines is expected to reap an uptick of reservations w/ their $79 flights from SFO to San Diego. The one way fares begin Oct 29th, as the airline will begin running 4 non-stops out of SFO to SAN and back.

The airline previously rolled out a similar deal to LAX this summer, and are obviously trying to compete with the bankrupt but still flying United on this popular route. Southwest also flies daily runs from Oakland & San Jose to San Diego.

The one thing that might make me hesitant to take up these offers is Alaska’s spate of safety mishaps on it’s flights… I guess maybe that’s why they issue biblical quoting prayer cards on their flights.

Read On For More Info
on Alaska Air & some various curious safety incidents after the jump…

Forget Snakes, What About Smoke On A Plane?

The incident on Sunday involved the evacuation of 140 passengers in Long Beach, and injuries were reported to three passengers and a flight attendant. In the Friday incident, an emergency landing was made in Sea-Tac after leaving Vancouver in which four people were treated for ear and sinus pain.

In May an Alaska Air flight from Palm Springs landed and began filling with smoke, forcing an evacuation of 120 passengers by slide from the jet onto the runway

Another harrowing incident occured in December last year, an Alaska flight lost cabin pressure at 26,000 feet and made an emergency landing at Sea-Tac. The incident occured after a recently hired scab baggage handling crew owned by an Alaska contractor failed to report a collision that damaged the plane’s aluminum hull, which turned into a foot wide gash when airborne.

Said an attorney named Daniel Rose representing some passengers on the flight, “Within four months of Alaska Air’s retention of Menzies, the operator’s ramp employees caused damage to the airline’s aircraft on at least 12 separate occasions.”

Here’s a picture from a Burbank bound blogger named Jeremy Hermanns who was onboard December’s sketchy flight 536…

Six months after the Sea-Tac emergency, Alaska issued a press release about it’s new safety preparations in June. However that was not enough for some passengers who have sued claiming injuriesthat include eardrum damage and hearing loss, loss of ability to work, along with substantial emotional trauma.

In another suit, Twenty-six Alaska Airlines flight attendants sued for suffering severe neurological damage from being repeatedly exposed to toxic chemicals & smoke on Alaska’s MD-80 flights during the 1980s and 1990s.

Most scary of all in my opinion, was when in early 2000, Alaska Flt 261 left Puerto Vallarta bound for SFO, but 88 passengers & crew crashed into the Pacific 20 miles north of LAX, after a series of harrowing dives & attempts to stabilize the plane failed. The airline blames a faulty jack screw, the victims lost in the crash and resting in Davy Jones locker were strangely silent.

In addition to the myriad safety issues, by summer 2005, the airline had gone from being top rated to leading the nation for worst record of on-time arrivals and departures according to a federal report. Only a few years prior they were ranked #1 in customer service, #1 in on time flights and departures, and #1 in the fewest mishandled bags. Passengers have also complained about baggage handling, and a reduction in quality of service and food on flights.

Alaska is the nation’s 8th largest carrier, and also operates Horizon Air.

hmmm…

Alaska Air Website

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2. SFO preps for future flights (& airfare wars?)
3. New daily flights from SFO to India via Shanghai
4. America West at SFO: WTF?!
5. Summer Travel News & Deals Out of Bay Area