The new added features aim to provide customers with convenient access to their most important travel information. According to the company, one of the most significant new features is the ability to check-in and access mobile boarding passes.

“We wanted to empower our customers with an intelligent, intuitive experience that allows them to seamlessly glide through the airport and into their seat with little congestion,” said Marianne Lindsey, spokeswoman for Alaska Airlines. 

“Our mobile app provides personalized and real time information to the traveler based on that traveler’s needs,” she said. “And we are not done.

“We will continue to enhance the app based on customer feedback and develop mobile experiences on the most popular devices used by our customers.”

Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group, together serve 90 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico.

New features
The app’s new features include the ability to track flight status and boarding information and create text or email flight alerts.

Consumers can also select and change seats.

The new features can also create a parking reminder and add notes for hotel and car reservations.

Additionally, travelers can access their “My Trips” tab to view multiple flight itineraries and track Alaska Airlines

Mileage Plan account information.

Alaska Air also plans to launch an Android app and a revamped mobile site later this year.

In addition, the company will be a more seamless experience for tablet users.

Mobile past
This is not Alaska Airlines’ first foray into mobile.

Last year, the company let high-tech travelers access boarding passes from their mobile device to expedite the airport check-in process.

The airlines introduced the new electronic boarding passes in seven cities. Each electronic boarding pass displays an encrypted bar code along with the passenger and flight information that is verified by Transportation Security

Administration agents at the security checkpoint (see story).

Additionally, Alaska Airlines debuted three mobile applications in an effort to retain customer loyalty and give travel-warrior customers the tools they want most.

The new applications are designed for the Apple’s iPhone, Research In Motion’s BlackBerry and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile users. The company claims that it offers consumers access to the most frequently used functions they need on the day of flight (see story).

“Alaska Airlines has been a leader in using technology to make the travel experience easier,” Ms. Lindsey said. “We were the first U.S. airline to book flights and sell tickets via the Internet.

“We were the first U.S. airline to offer Web check-in, allowing customers to check in and print a boarding pass via the Internet,” she said. “And we were the first U.S. airline to introduce iPads in the flight desk for our pilots, savings millions of pounds of paper a year.
“And we offer wireless check-in using a Web-enabled phone or a wireless handheld device. We will continue to listen to the needs or our customers and to innovate with current technology.”