Eskimo Will Keep Smiling on Alaska Airlines’ Planes

SEATTLE — The smiling Eskimo will continue to ride the tails of Alaska Airlines jetliners.

Senior management, after receiving thousands of letters supporting the 15-year-old airline symbol, said Thursday that the company had decided not to replace it with a stylized mountain that looked a bit like the letter “A.”

“The opinion of employees and the public has been nearly unanimous,” said spokesman Lou Cancelmi, “so the Eskimo will remain.”

He said letters came from across Alaska and from the West Coast as far south as San Diego. One traveler, flying from Wisconsin to the West Coast, called from a phone booth in Colorado to speak for the Eskimo face after reading of its possible demise in a national publication, he said.

In Juneau, members of the Alaska Legislature applauded Alaska Airlines’ decision, as senators quickly passed an amendment noting their appreciation that the happy face would stay in the skies.

Cancelmi said Alaska Airlines’ management was surprised at the response from the public.

“I think we’ve been touched, as a company, at the outpouring of good will toward the company and its employees,” he said.

A man wrote from Fort Yukon, Alaska: “Your company symbol is a tradition that needs to be preserved. Remain unique. Don’t become just another airline.”

The Eskimo, a sketch that does not represent an individual, was introduced in 1973.