Alaska Airlines announced its first quarter results Thursday, and the results are good. It was the first time in 11 years the carrier showed a profit in the first quarter -- traditionally a weak period in the air industry -- and Chief Executive Bill Ayer said the improvement is thanks to fuller planes and rising prices.

Even when you count the $12.5 million Alaska Airlines lost on its fuel hedges, the company still earned a profit of $5.3 million in the first quarter of 2010. That's way up from 2009, when the carrier lost $19.2 million.

"Producing a profit in our seasonally weakest period is particularly noteworthy," Ayer said in a statement. "The last time we reported a significant first-quarter profit was in 1999."

The profits are also good news for Alaska Airline's 106 furloughed pilots, some of whom have been out of work for more than a year. Profits mean pilots are coming back to work, and next week 12 furloughed pilots will start flying again. Read more on that story here.

The press release trumpeting the profits also mentioned Alaska Airline's new routes (Portland to Hawaii, San Jose to Los Angeles), and boasted that Alaska Airlines held the "No. 1 spot in on-time performance among the 10 largest U.S. airlines."

Another change the carrier made in the first quarter -- adjusting their change fees -- frustrated many fliers.

It used to be that if you wanted to change your flight you called up Alaska Airlines and if seats were available they charged you $75 to switch to the new flight. But after the new change, the airline will make you pay the price of the flight on the day you want to make the change, and then apply the price of your old flight to the new ticket. Read the whole story here.

Alaska Airlines also announced changes to their bag fees on Thursday, and will now charge $20 for a passenger's first three bags. That's a $5 increase for the first bag, but a $5 and $30 decrease for the second and third bags.

Contact Joshua Saul at jsaul(at)alaskadispatch.com.