Alaska Air Group Inc. today announced that its board of directors approved a stock repurchase program authorizing the company to buy up to $50 million of its common stock.

“This action continues programs we’ve carried out over the past several years,” Air Group Chairman and CEO Bill Ayer said. “The programs are consistent with the company’s practice of repurchasing shares opportunistically and underscores our commitment to providing a reasonable return to investors while preserving our strong cash balance.”

The company intends to finance the repurchases with cash on hand. The repurchase program authorizes the company to purchase its common stock from time to time through open market purchases, negotiated transactions or other means, including accelerated share repurchases and 10b5-1 trading plans in accordance with applicable securities laws.

Alaska Air Group has repurchased a total of approximately 7.5 million shares of its common stock for nearly $212 million through similar programs over the past four years.