JetBlue, Virgin Air and Alaska airlines have all had $79 each way to LAX or LGB lately, out of Seattle.
They're all ok, but as packed as flights are these days, you're never going to have a wonderful flight, probably. We had a 1-1/2 hour delay on Alaska Air to SNA last March, a mechanical thing that had to be signed off by a lead mechanic.
Jet Blue sometimes has a few customer service issues, from what I've heard.
I think they're all pretty safe. DH is an engineer for Boeing, and he's commented on how many people don't realize the kind of hoops and checks the airlines go through to ensure safety, especially in this lawsuit-crazy world. Granted, you can't guarantee anything in life, there will always be those rare, terrible tragedies, but it is still true that statistically, flying is much safer than your daily commute in the car. (In the United States, that is. DH says, don't fly airlines in most of the African or South American countries. They don't have the FAA on their backs; they do very little maintenance and tend to transport, for example, goats in the cargo area. Seriously.)