Alaska Airlines says it will open a base in San Diego in April for more than 150 flight attendants.

It will be the fifth such base for the airline, which also centers flight attendants at Anchorage, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle, where Alaska is based.

A San Diego base will reduce employee travel costs and improve on-time performance by reducing commuting.

The airline says about 15 percent of the flight attendants needed for the new base already live in San Diego and have been commuting to Los Angeles or other airports.