UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT
TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
October 8, 2004
(Date of earliest event reported)
ALASKA AIR GROUP, INC.
Delaware
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation)
| 1-8957 | 91-1292054 | |
| (Commission File Number) | (IRS Employer Identification No.) |
| 19300 Pacific Highway South, Seattle, Washington | 98188 | |
| (Address of Principal Executive Offices) | (Zip Code) |
(206) 392-5040
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):
| o | Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425) |
| o | Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12) |
| o | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b)) |
| o | Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c)) |
| ITEM 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure | ||||||||
| Signature | ||||||||
ITEM 7.01. Regulation FD Disclosure
Pursuant to 17 CFR Part 243 (“Regulation FD”), the Company is submitting information relating to its financial and operational outlook for the third quarter of 2004. Please see the cautionary statement under “Forward-Looking Information” at the end of this filing.
In accordance with General Instruction B.2 of Form 8-K, the following information shall not be deemed filed for purposes of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), nor shall such information be deemed incorporated by reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, except as shall be expressly set forth by specific reference in such a filing. This Report will not be deemed an admission as to the materiality of any information required to be disclosed solely to satisfy the requirements of Regulation FD.
References in this report on Form 8-K to “the Company” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Alaska Air Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, unless otherwise specified. Alaska Airlines, Inc. and Horizon Air Industries, Inc. are referred to as “Alaska” and “Horizon,” respectively.
Third Quarter 2004
In September 2004, Alaska received notification from the Mexican Government
that payment representing reimbursement of certain disputed navigation fees
paid to Mexico by Alaska during 2002 and 2003 had been approved. Given the
uncertainty of the existence and timing of the payment, such reimbursement had
not previously been recorded by the Company. However, since the payment was
received during the first week of October, thus removing this uncertainty, the
reimbursement will be recorded in the third quarter.
The payment received, net of costs, totaled approximately $10.9 million, of which $7.6 million and $3.3 million will be recorded in operating expense and non-operating income, respectively.
Actual results for the third quarter will be announced on October 21.
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION
This report may contain forward-looking statements that are intended to be
subject to the safe harbor protection provided by Section 27A of the Securities
Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These
statements relate to future events or our
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future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results or performance to be materially different from those indicated by any forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “forecast,” “may,” “will,” “could,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “believe,” “potential” or other similar words indicating future events or contingencies. Some of the things that could cause our actual results to differ from our expectations are: economic conditions; the continued impact of terrorist attacks, global instability and potential U.S. military involvement; our significant indebtedness; downgrades of our credit ratings; the competitive environment and other trends in our industry; changes in laws and regulations; changes in our operating costs including fuel; changes in our business plans; interest rates and the availability of financing; liability and other claims asserted against us; labor disputes; our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; and inflation. For a discussion of these and other risk factors, see Item 1 of the Company’s Amendment No. 1 to its Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2003 on Form 10-K/A. All of the forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the risk factors discussed therein. These risk factors may not be exhaustive. We operate in a continually changing business environment, and new risk factors emerge from time to time. Management cannot predict such new risk factors, nor can it assess the impact, if any, of such new risk factors on our business or events described in any forward-looking statements. We disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements after the date of this report to conform them to actual results.
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Signature
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
ALASKA AIR GROUP, INC.
Registrant
Date: October 8, 2004
/s/ Brandon S. Pedersen
/s/ Bradley D. Tilden
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