Alaska Airlines Launches 'Russell Wilson 12th Fan Airlift' Sweepstakes to the Big Apple

SEATTLE, Jan. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Alaska Airlines and star NFL quarterback Russell Wilson are teaming up again, this time to fly a plane-load of fans to the Big Apple complete with an inflight tailgate party and admission to an exclusive game day party in midtown Manhattan. The four-day sweepstakes, the "Russell Wilson 12^th Fan Airlift," launches on Alaska Airlines' Facebook page today and is open to residents of Washington, Oregon and Alaska. To enter and review complete sweepstakes rules, visit www.facebook.com/AlaskaAirlines.

"We're thrilled to invite some of the loudest 12s to join us in supporting Russell and the Seahawks in this historic championship game," said Joe Sprague, vice president of marketing. "On behalf of our 13,000 Alaska and Horizon employees, it's been an honor to support Russell and our hometown football team. From all of us, we say: We're in—and go Hawks!"

Russell Wilson 12^th Fan Airlift Sweepstakes

Fans have until 11:59 p.m. Pacific time Sunday, Jan. 26, to enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win two tickets aboard a specially themed aircraft dedicated to Wilson that will be revealed for the commemorative Feb. 1 flight. Each of the 56 winners will be selected at random and receive two roundtrip tickets, two nights of hotel accommodations, and transportation to and from Newark Liberty International Airport and their hotel. In addition, the winners and their guests will be invited to attend an exclusive game day party at a midtown Manhattan venue. Sweepstakes winners will be notified by phone and email on Monday, Jan. 27.

Mileage Auction Benefiting Seattle Children's Hospital

Alaska Airlines today also launched an exclusive auction for MVP Gold and Gold 75k Mileage Plan members to bid for five pairs of seats in the first class cabin. Miles raised in the online auction will be matched by the carrier and donated to Seattle Children's Hospital, where Wilson regularly visits young fans receiving care. Alaska has enhanced its support of Children's during the 2013 football season, donating 100,000 miles to the hospital for each pass or rush touchdown Wilson throws or scores. So far, a half million miles have been donated to Children's. Alaska will double its donation to 200,000 miles for every pass or rush touchdown Wilson scores in the Feb. 2 game against the Denver Broncos.

The "Russell Wilson 12^th Fan Airlift" sweepstakes is the third in a series of promotions that Alaska Airlines and Wilson have launched this month. In "Russell's 12^th Fan Rescue," six fans and their guests were "Russ-cued" from rival territories across the nation, and each received an all-expenses paid trip to Seattle on Alaska Airlines, plus playoff game tickets. More than 3,000 entries were submitted in the nationwide contests.

Alaska Airlines named Wilson its honorary "Chief Football Officer" last month. As part of the partnership, travelers wearing a Wilson jersey are invited to board early on flights departing from Seattle for the duration of the football season.

Fans can follow these and other Wilson announcements at www.facebook.com/AlaskaAirlines and on Twitter @AlaskaAir.

Editor's note: An artistic rendering of the specially themed "Go Russell" 737-900ER can be viewed in Alaska Airlines' online image gallery at http://bit.ly/IuFRxE.

Alaska Airlines, a subsidiary of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK), together with its partner regional airlines, serves nearly 100 cities through an expansive network in Alaska, the Lower 48, Hawaii, Canada and Mexico. With more nonstop flights to Seattle than any other carrier, Alaska is widely regarded as the West Coast's major airline. Alaska Airlines has ranked "Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Traditional Network Carriers" in the J.D. Power and Associates North America Airline Satisfaction StudySM for six consecutive years from 2008 to 2013. For reservations, visit www.alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines Newsroom at www.alaskaair.com/newsroom.

Sweepstakes terms and conditions: The official sweepstakes rules are available at http://bit.ly/1dSwDZA and MVP Gold auction and rules are posted online at http://bit.ly/1eW3gSK.

SOURCE Alaska Airlines