Alaska Airlines to implement additional safety measures ahead of inauguration

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - Starting January 15th, Alaska Airlines will begin implementing new safety measures.

According to press release, Alaska Airlines said in a statement, “At Alaska, safety is our top priority and our number one value. That drives all our decisions, as it does today. We are temporarily implementing additional safety measures focused on keeping our guests and employees safe, as well as working closely with the industry, FAA, TSA, law enforcement and others. Specific examples, which begin tomorrow, January 15, include:

· Increased mask enforcement on the ground and throughout the journey for all routes, including in partnership with airports from which we fly.

· To support law enforcement’s calls to avoid travel to the area, we will limit the number of tickets purchased on flights to and from the D.C. metro area.

· We will temporarily ban checked firearms on flights to the D.C. metro area, specifically flights to and from Baltimore/Washington International Airport, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport.

· All passengers traveling to and from the D.C. metro area will be required to remain in their seats for one hour from take-off or landing to these airports.

· We’re adding extra personnel to support compliance.

· We have procedures to ensure compliance prior to departure and takeoff, and for turn-back or diversions, should the circumstance warrant.

· And, we will have a dedicated command center to monitor every phase of the journey – check in, boarding, taxi, climb, cruise, descent and arrival – to ensure compliance and allow us to quickly respond to and resolve any incidents.”

Alaska Airlines flies 31 flights a week to the three D.C. area airports from Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Through Jan. 14, Alaska Airlines has 303 people on its active ban list.