Im one of the MVP Golds/75K Juneauites who flew Delta. Lots of us actually. We could get places hours ahead of Alaska. The morning nonstop was a godsend. It meant I could get east of the mississippi same day before 10pm.

I was with Dave1013 at the MVP luncheon on the Westerdam & kinda embarrassed Marilyn (forgot her last name)- she announced all these new markets out of Seattle & I spoke (was told yelled) back that we cant get there because our 1st flt doesnt land until 2-3 hours after those flts departed Seattle. She said shed "look into it". Then Scott Habberstadt & Rick Rasmussen approached us and we both provided a fair assessment of our travel vs Delta. Apparently Marilyn didnt realize our flts didnt connect to any of the new markets.

And at the time of DL's entry, we still had free bags. I dont think I ever sat in back on Delta.

And regarding SkyWest, the main issue wasn't landing, it was taking off. SkyWest couldnt depart down the channel, so they needed a ceiling higher than 3000' because they would depart runway eastbound and have to turn immediately west...

Delta also rolled out a program similar to Club 49 and gave SkyPesos members in alaska free bags, fast track to Silver, and 20% off a flight (not just last minute).