Austin-San Jose “Nerd Bird” nonstop migrates to Alaska Airlines Austin-San Jose “Nerd Bird” nonstop migrates to Alaska Airlines Austin-San Jose “Nerd Bird” nonstop migrates to Alaska Airlines Austin-San Jose “Nerd Bird” nonstop migrates to Alaska Airlines

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (ABIA) News

For immediate release:

June 22, 2009

Austin-San Jose “Nerd Bird” nonstop migrates to Alaska Airlines

AUSTIN, TEXAS -- Alaska Airlines announced today it will inaugurate daily nonstop service between Austin and San Jose, Calif., starting Sept. 2, 2009. The flight, nicknamed the “Nerd Bird” since it connects two high-tech markets, will be available for purchase starting Thursday, June 25, at alaskaair.com and by calling 1-800-ALASKAAIR (1-800-252-7522).

On February 3, Alaska became the newest carrier for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport when it announced plans to link Austin and Seattle with a daily roundtrip flight starting Aug. 3, 2009.

“We are happy about Alaska Airlines providing non-stop service to Seattle and now to San Jose,” said Jim Smith, ABIA Executive Director. “We thank Alaska Airlines for the confidence they are showing in the Austin market.”

“The San Jose-Austin route is a natural extension of our network, providing a vital link between two high-tech hubs,” said Andrew Harrison, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of planning and revenue management. “We are excited to offer this new market to our customers.”

The Austin-San Jose nonstop is a reinstatement of service provided by American Airlines from October 1992 to August 25, 2009.

The flight will depart San Jose at 8:55 a.m. and arrive at Austin-Bergstrom at 2:15 p.m. The return flight will depart Austin at 3 p.m. and arrive in San Jose at 4:40 p.m., all times local. Alaska Airlines will operate the flights with Boeing 737-800s, accommodating 16 passengers in first class and 141 in the main cabin.

Austin-Bergstrom International Airport ranked third in customer service among airports its size around the globe and third for any size in North America in the Airports Council International (ACI) Airport Service Quality Survey. Austin-Bergstrom has nonstop service to 37 destinations in the U.S. and Canada and served over 9 million passengers in 2008. A complete listing of all nonstop flight destinations from Austin and the airlines that serve them is available on www.abia.org, click on ‘airlines & flights.’

Source: City of Austin