Alaska Airlines Will Be OK

Other airlines might have crumbled after losing a third of their capacity for three weeks, following a scary in-flight mishap caused by a supplier's mistake. But Alaska's already on the right track.

Dear readers,

Even compared to other journalists, who can be an ornery group, I have a very sensitive internal bullshit meter. When an airline tells investors it would have had better quarterly results if not for some external forces beyond its control, I'm typically skeptical. This is the airline industry: there's always an uncontrollable event.

Airlines should plan for thunderstorms, blizzards, natural disasters, pandemics, labor unrest, aircraft delivery delays, and even faulty engines. But door plugs falling off two-month-old airplanes? When did that become a reasonable risk factor? So I admit: While listening to Alaska's fourth quarter earnings call on Thursday, I felt sympathetic.