Alaska Air CEO Confident Of Keeping Hawaii Advantage

By Doug Cameron, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Alaska has more than a dozen marketing ties with other airlines and is seen as a logical takeover candidate for a carrier such as the American Airlines unit of AMR Corp. (AMR) looking to beef up its west coast presence.

"It's not that we are totally opposed [to a deal]," said Ayer after a speech at an industry conference in Seattle.

He said Alaska just preferred the prospects of continuing as an independent operator, mining its strong community links with the Pacific Northwest.

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That was a subtle but significant change of tone...