Originally Posted by
sltlyamusd
If AS nickles and dimes people too much, they will all switch to DL who offers a more comprehensive route network...
Originally Posted by
BW Flyer
AS is just a legacy wannabe, and it's sole motivation is corporate profit, as demanded by Wall Street.
Alaska is caught in the same pincer trap as JetBlue a couple of years ago. Stuck between the Wall Street crowd pressuring AS for more revenue and fewer brand differentiators (you just know the Hunter Keays of the world want AS to gut MP and add an RQM factor)... and a customer base already put off by higher fees, dwindling partner list, narrower elite benefits, and leaner, stingier hard product compared to VX.
JetBlue succumbed to the bean counters (adding bag fees and shrinking seat pitch) and I expect AS will too, even if it adds to customer outflux. But at the end of the day Alaska has no legacy heft, and can't be too many customers' primary carrier if they live outside Alaska or the west coast corridor, so they're in an ultimately untenable position.
The only thing that can save them is scale, and more than they can create organically. I would not have said this at mid-decade, but now I think B6-AS is only a matter of time, and the next recession will speed things up.
Originally Posted by Flying for fun
Do you want AS Mileage Plan to mimic the Alliance FF Plans? It certainly would be the demise of Mileage Plan as you know it now. Be careful what you wish for.
But it's inevitable.