| 1. | I      have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Alaska Airlines, Inc.      for the period ended September 30,2009; |
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| 2. | Based      on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue      statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to      make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such      statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by      this report; |
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| 3. | Based      on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information      included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material respects      the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the      registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this      report; |
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| 4. | The      registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for      establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as      defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal      control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules      13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and we  have: |
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|   | a)      Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such      disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision,      to ensure that material information relating to the registrant is made      known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the      period in which this report is beingprepared; |
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|   | d)      Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control      over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent      fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to      materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial      reporting; and |
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| 5. | The      registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on our      most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to      the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's      board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent      functions): |
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|   | a)      all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or      operation of internal control over financial reporting which are      reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record,      process, summarize and report financial information;  and |
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|   | b)  any      fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other      employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal control      over financial reporting. |
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|        November 6, 2009 | By        /s/ William S.      Ayer        William      S. AyerChairman      & Chief ExecutiveOfficer |
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