Alaska Airlines & Horizon Air introduce Spanish-language website.

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air have introduced a Spanish-language Web site, a new tool to better connect the airlines with their growing number of Hispanic customers.

The comprehensive site, which includes more than 3,000 pages of content, allows customers to perform a number of functions in Spanish, including making a reservation, checking in for a flight and managing their Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan account. Customers can access the site by clicking the “En Espanol” link from the airlines’ Web site at alaskaair.com or horizonair.com.

“There’s an increasing need to better serve our customers in their language of choice, especially as Alaska expands service between the West Coast and Mexico, and as both carriers serve an increasing number of Hispanic customers on U.S. flights,” said Steve Jarvis, Alaska’s vice president of sales and customer experience. “This Web site is the first of many Spanish- language services we will introduce to make all our customers feel warmly welcomed in either English or Spanish.”

By early 2007, Alaska and Horizon will add Spanish-language options at airport check-in kiosks. Alaska also plans by mid-2007 to more than double the number of Spanish-speaking reservations agents at its call centers, replace in-flight interpreters with bilingual flight attendants on flights serving non-resort destinations in Mexico, offer Spanish content in its in-flight magazine, and make Spanish-language announcements on flights to and from the Los Angeles basin.

Alaska annually transports more than 1.2 million passengers between the United States and Mexico, and has expanded its service in key business markets, including Guadalajara and Mexico City. The airline now offers more flights between the U.S. West Coast and Mexico than any other domestic carrier. During its upcoming winter schedule, Alaska will operate up to 44 flights daily serving 10 Mexican cities, including Cancun, Guadalajara, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, La Paz, Loreto, Los Cabos, Manzanillo, Mazatlan, Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta.